Help me with a TAX decision.
 

As a continuation of this thread:
https://www.miataturbo.net/insert-bs-here-4/your-effective-federal-tax-rate-2011-a-63233/

Everything I talk about in that thread was for my FY2010 taxes. The wife and I got our 2011 stuff done last night... return of $12,200. WTF?

Right now, I claim a deduction of 1-single. I've got a few buddies here at work who say I should be maxing out my claims via my W4. The Navy will let me put as high as a 10. I've done a few online calculators that all say I should be in the 13-15 range to break even.

I'd rather have a little return than owe even a dollar. I know I need to change over to "married", but am wondering how many deductions I can safely take and still not owe.

you dont have to change your W4 to married if you dont want to.

I think I'm at single and 8 (I'm married). You could use any combination or a dollar value to get you the right withholding.

Will the navy let you put single and 10? I think the withholding is lower for single than for married, right?

No, single withholds at the highest rates.

Have you done the IRS Withholding Calculator on the IRS website?

No one will be able to tell you what to put on your W-4 without knowing your income and full tax situation. Are you getting back more than you pay, meaning you have no tax liability for the year?

use the calculators, thats what we do. You dont wanna end up witholding too much, then get the penalty for it come april.

^I guess you'd call my financial situation normal.
Married, 2 kids, mortgage on house that we rent to others, fill up 403b and IRA's to max, some business expenses and some charitable donations... typical.

I am not getting back more than I pay... as was my situation last year, we're paying about 8.5%. I know in the other thread that I'm not really sure what I'm saying when I throw out that figure, but basically, I made XX,XXX dollars last year, and after everything is done, I'll have given the gov't 8.5% of it.

I think I'm gonna do what some of my buddies do. They claim a 10 up until the last 2 months of the year, then dial it back to a 1... that way they say they get about $1500 back and never in risk of pwnage.

I've used the calculators and they all say 13 or 14. The military payroll system will only let me claim a max of 10, so I've got a built-in margin already. I can live with that kind of math.

Sounds like someone just fell into some more miata money! :party:

You really need to run the calculators a couple of times a year if you have any variability in your taxable income or deductions. We end up dialing the deductions up and down based on my variable pay.