Hi,

I am on H1B visa status since 2011 October and my spouse is on F-1 CPT starting 7/1/2013 (She was previously on H-4 till October 31st 2012). Please correct me if my following assumptions are wrong while I am filling my W-4 form as she filling her W-4 form. I am planning to file the tax returns as married filing jointly later in 2014.

On my W-4,
1) Number of Allowances that I can claim is '1' as no one else is claiming me as dependent
2) # 3 has to be checked with "Single" since my spouse is Non-resident Alien because of her F-1 status.
3) I should be calculating "Two-Earners/Multiple Jobs Worksheet" on page 2 of W-4 and filling that information under # 6 ("Additional amount, if any, you want withheld from each paycheck")

On my spouse's W-4,
1) Number of Allowances that she can claim will be '1' as I am not claiming her as dependent.
2) # 3 has to be checked with "Married"
3) # 6 to be blank as she is non-resident alien.

Any assistance would be appreciated.

Thank you.

You should BOTH submit the Form W-4 as SINGLE, with YOU claiming 1 allowance and HER claiming 2 allowances (if the employer permits it).

REASON: Since you are filing jointly, the FIRST dollar of her salary is taxed at the marginal tax rate of the LAST dollar of your salary, probably at 15%. Hence, she must OVER-withhold to compensate for the higher tax rate.

You should BOTH submit the Form W-4 as SINGLE, with YOU claiming 1 allowance and HER claiming 2 allowances (if the employer permits it).

REASON: Since you are filing jointly, the FIRST dollar of her salary is taxed at the marginal tax rate of the LAST dollar of your salary, probably at 15%. Hence, she must OVER-withhold to compensate for the higher tax rate.

Thanks for the quick reply AtlantaTaxExpert. How should I go about # 6 of W-4 form for both mine and hers?

Thank you.

Do NO calculations.

Complete name, address and SSN, claim SINGLE status and enter "1" for you and "2" for your wife on Line #5. Leave Line #6 blank, because enough income SHOULD be withheld to cover your joint tax liability if you both are withheld at the SINGLE rate.

Do NO calculations.

Complete name, address and SSN, claim SINGLE status and enter "1" for you and "2" for your wife on Line #5. Leave Line #6 blank, because enough income SHOULD be withheld to cover your joint tax liability if you both are withheld at the SINGLE rate.

Thank you so much AtlantaTaxExpert for your help :) . Really appreciate it.

Glad to help!