[SeePeeAyy]

So I did a summer internship and claimed 2 on my W4 because I thought I was going to be filing independent this year but I am not. I claimed 1 on my state so that is fine. Am I in legal trouble?

I ran some numbers and they held 35% federal taxes (fed, fica, SS). This seems really high — I thought if you claim 2 they take out very little in your paychecks? If I claimed 0 or 1 they would have taken more than 35%?

[lyzgrace]

The more allowances you claim, the less money they keep out of your paycheck.

The only way you could get in “legal” trouble is if you were intentionally claiming high allowances in order to avoid paying taxes. One client of ours had an employee who was married, but had no kids, and was claiming 10 allowances. Turns out he owed back taxes and his employer got a notification from the IRS demanding that he change his payroll information to single with 0 allowances. That's about the most legal trouble you can get in by having the wrong number of allowances. Unless you start cheating on your actual returns or running up your tab with the Department of the Treasury, the worst that will happen is you will owe come April 15th 2014 =)

AUD: 82
FAR: 78
BEC: 75
REG: 8/1 score release!!

[Noct]

Actually, withholding is entirely voluntary. You can claim 99 dependents on your W-4 and not face any legal trouble. However, if you don't pay in the lesser of 90% of your current years tax or 100% of your prior year's tax (110% if AGI is above 150k) “evenly throughout the year”, you will owe a penalty when you file your return. This penalty is only a modest interest calculation as long as you pay by April 15. After that, the penalty goes up significantly.

If you are really concerned about it, you can make an estimated tax payment.

FAR - 79 - 07/2012
AUD - 65, 78 - 11/2012
BEC - 76 - 11/2012
REG - 78 - 01/2013
ETH - 98 - 01/2013

Material: Wiley books

[mla1169]

So long as you file your actual tax return properly and pay the amount due (if any) you're fine.

FAR- 77
AUD -49, 71, 84
REG -56,75!
BEC -75

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[Author]

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