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chat8102 · Sep 8, 2009, 04:46 PM

Hello,
My husband and I are both employed and we are on work visa. No Kids.

Would it be sufficient that we both have entered "Total number of allowances you are claiming" as M-1 on Form W-4 (since we are filing jointly) as we have no additional dependents?
We consulted our CA and they think that this should be enough and there needs to be no additional with holdings... Is this true?

Would the tax withheld be sufficient or should we put in additional $ for withholding as well?

Thanks

MukatA · Sep 9, 2009, 01:14 AM

Normally, both of you can claim Married with 1 allowance.
If your total income is over $100,000, then one of you can claim Married with 0 allowance.

AtlantaTaxExpert · Sep 9, 2009, 10:14 AM

Actually, one should claim Married with ZERO exemption and the other should claim Single with ZERO to ensure enough is withheld.

Both claiming Married with ONE exemption will result in NOT ENOUGH taxes being withheld.

The reason is simple: if you file jointly, the first spouse's salary is taxed normally. However, the second spouse's salary picks up where the last one left off when it comes to tax rates.

EXAMPLE: If the first spouse makes $40K, the LAST dollar of his salary is taxed at 15%. The FIRST dollar of the second spouse's salary thus STARTS being taxed at 15%, then rises to 25% (when the combined salary hits $65K), then 28%, then 33% and finally 35%.

chat8102 · Sep 10, 2009, 02:26 PM

Thanks AtlantaTaxExpert and MukatA
For your answers.
How can I claim Married with 0 exemption?
The W4 form has the very first question as "Enter “1” for yourself if no one else can claim you as a dependent" for which I put in 1 and so will my husband.

For question (c) "Enter “1” for your spouse. But, you may choose to enter “-0-” if you are married and have either a working spouse or
more than one job. (Entering “-0-” may help you avoid having too little tax withheld." We will both put in -0-.

So when we add lines A through G, line (5) "Total number of allowances you are claiming" will still be '1'.

Another question I had is: Is there a way for us to calculate the total % of tax that we have to pay each year?

Thanks

AtlantaTaxExpert · Sep 11, 2009, 12:40 PM

Sure! Email me at the address below your and your spouse's projected income for 2009 and I will do an estimate.