EvilNewbie said:
This is my first time filling out the thing and I have no idea how to fill it out. PGY-1 $39,100 a year, Single, No savings of any kind or house or children or property
1) #5 states total allowance claiming for federal tax? What is an allowance and how much should I claim?
2) #6 how much to withhold from each paycheck? Withhold it for what exactly? and how much should I withhold?
3) For state tax...
A) Do I claim personal exemption or not?
B) Do I want more money withheld from my paycheck? Why do they keep wanting my money withheld from my paycheck?
PLEASE HELP ME!!!
Do you have the worksheet that should come with it? Doesn't sound like it. Your new program should really be reviewing these things with you.
I am not an accountant, so some others may have more expertise but here's how I always understood it.
1) Calculating Total Withholding Allowance (line H from the calculation worksheet):
- 1 for yourself if no one else can claim you as a dependent (ie, as long
as your parents aren't still using you as a tax dededuction)
- 1 since you are single with 1 job (this would also be 1 if you were
married and your spouse was either unemployed or earned < $1000)
Since you have no children, are not paying Child Care Support, and have no dependents, your total Withholding Allowance is (1 + 1) = 2.
2) Additional amount you want withheld from each paycheck:
This is asking you if you want your employer to take more out of each paycheck in addition to your tax burden. The reason for doing this is either as a self-enforced sort of savings account (a poor one, since you won't earn any interest on the extra monies withheld), or to cover any extra tax burden come next tax year. IF you put say $25.00 here, your employer will take an extra $25.00 out of each paycheck. Next year when doing your taxes for 2005, if you have overpaid, including this extra $25.00, you will get this back in your refund.
3) the same answers as above; count yourself and withhold extra money if you want. You'll probably get a refund your first couple of years, but some people like to get a big refund, as they really don't miss the extra 10 or 20 dollars (or whatever you ask for as extra withholding) per paycheck and like getting a bigger refund check in the spring.
You HAVE to have some money withheld from your paycheck to pay for required state and federal (and in some places local) taxes. Sorry, its just the way the world works. However, you are not required to have any extra outside of that calculated based on your exemptions.
Go to
http://www.irs.gov for information on its various forms.
