[haskins111103]

I am married with two children. My husband and I have been claiming zero for the past three years. Every check is going to bills and no extra money... but we do receive a huge tax rebate over 6,000. I would like more money during the year and not pay too much in taxes the following year. Any idea on how much to claim? So won't be paying too much back next year?

[ebaines]

As it is now you are giving the government an interest free loan every year. You should both submit updated W-4 forms to your employers. It gets a little complicated when you have two working people, but follow the directions and you should end up with less withholding from your pay check, and the amount withheld should still be sufficient to cover your taxes so that you won't owe an aditional amount in April.

[ScottGem]

I agree with ebaines. Generally, at tax time I have to either pay or get a refund of about $100 either way. So instead of loaning money to the government interest free, I get more in my paycheck.

Figuring out what to claim on the W4 is not that easy. You will probably need to play with the amount for a couple of years to get a good balance.

With 2 kids, you should be claiming at least 4. If you have a house add another exemption. You need to look at what your deductions are and see how that compares to the standard deduction.