How do I find out exactly how much I will owe in taxes next year?

For me, when I claim 1, I end up with a sizable refund. I don’t like getting a refund because that means the government withheld money that is rightfully mine that I could have invested and got some return on but didn’t. I’ve been claiming 8 which I was told was about the limit before they start asking questions and requiring documentation – this year I owe $240 so it worked out rather fine.

You can claim 8??? Can you be single and claim 8?? Maybe I need a cpa. My godmother is one, I’ll call.

The only way I know of is to assume you’ll make the same this year as last and thus pay the same tax.

Life is too short to bother worrying about next year. Cash that refund check and have a grand ol time!

@Ltryptophan The amount you claim on your withholding can be based on the amount of deductions you will be taking on your Income Tax Form at the end of the year. If you itemize and have a lot of deductions, such as medical, rental housing, charity donations and such, it means you can claim more on your W-2.

There is a penalty if you over claimed and have to pay too much at the end of the year. It changes each year, but you have to be careful. We do an estimate on ours twice a year to make sure it is on track.

The W4 form offers guidelines on how to complete it so that you get an accurate withholding if that’s what you want. (So many want “a big refund” that they unnecessarily request over-withholding.)

If you were to claim Single and 8 dependents (it doesn’t matter whether you actually have 8 dependents or not) and have far too much tax under-withheld, then you’ll pay a penalty and some interest on the underwithheld amount… as well as having to pay the tax next April 15. But I don’t think it’s a significant penalty, the interest charges are not onerous, and it’s not a criminal offense as long as you do pay the tax.