bertove[at]gmail.com wrote:

- quote -

The way the withholding worked, it's as though you were
going to make $68,000/yr, in which case the $410 is
$10,660/yr in tax and loking at
http://www.fairmark.com/refrence/index.htm you owe about
$11200, so you'd get owe a bit.

But, as you note, you will only make $17,000, and after std
deduction/exemption, have a taxable income of $8250, and
total tax due of $846.

It would take 20 allowances to drop your withholding to 0.
But by the time you get a new W4 in, you'd have paid another
$410.

As long as you pay more than 90% of the tax due for the
year, and then the rest in April, there is no consequence to
claim those allowances. Don't confuse allowances with the
claiming of dependents who aren't yours, the first is the
right way to adjust withholdings, the second is just plain
illegal.

JOE

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<bertove[at]gmail.com> wrote:

- quote -

Yes: file more than 3 allowances.

If you file the number that leads to the correct amount of
tax withholding, everybody is happy.

Seth

<< ------------------------------------------------------- > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ------------------------------------------------------- >

I have a summer job (3 months) that has a good pay. I will
be earning around $17,000 in the 3 months, and according to
the federal tax rates, I should pay about $850 as tax. In my
W-4, I presently claimed 3 allowances, all of which apply to
me (I am a single, by the way).

However, I had $410 federal tax withheld from my first
paycheck of $2,700. That is almost half of the total that I
will need to pay! I understand that they calculated for the
entire year as opposed to 3 months, in which case the
withheld amount is okay.

Is there any way to reduce the withholding legally (I don't
want to get into any trouble being a foreign citizen!)? What
about increasing number of allowances; can it be done, and
up to how many if so?

Help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

<< ------------------------------------------------------- > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ------------------------------------------------------- >