W4 withdrawal

Forum|Forum|26 days ago
May 13, 2026
1 reply
3 views

Hello, my spouse and I have changed income brackets and are owing federal taxes the last 2 years. Only one of us is declaring our dependent son. Should both of us do the extra tax withhold or only one? Would it be the higher earner? How should we calculate the extra withdrawal per paycheck ? Thank you

Ask the Experts - W4 - May 2026

AmitaR

Employee Tax & Finance Expert

Yes, you're right. Only one of you can declare your dependent son. Ok, so you have filled out the Form W-4 correctly, Filing status in Step 1, checked the box in Step 2 if Married filing joint and more than one job. We already talked about Step 3 about dependents. You're still owing when it comes the Tax Time. That's frustrating!!

Depending on how much was your balance due for Tax Year 2025, you may divide it by the number of pay periods left in 2026. For example: let's say you had a balance due $1600 and now we have 16 pay periods left (assuming you get paid every two weeks). That would be $100 per pay period of Extra withholding. You may further divide it between the two of you. You can divide it whichever way you want: 50:50 or if one makes 60K and other makes 40K, you can divide it 60:40. You get it?

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