topic W-4 HELP for newly married??? in Get your taxes done using TurboTax

W-4 HELP for newly married???

rmt888 — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 06:28:59 GMT

Hello,

I recently married last year and am looking for advice on how to properly complete and update my W-4.

My salary is roughly 160k

My spouse is roughly 50k

We are looking to file jointly for the 2022 year

We currently have no children. On the old W-4 when I was single, I always claimed 1 so less taxes were deducted from my check.

How do I properly complete the 2022 W-4 now that there is no option to write deductions '0' or '1'. I'm looking to have less taken from my check and properly fill this form out to adjust to our salary and tax bracket.

Thank You

Re: W-4 HELP for newly married???

RobertB4444 — Thu, 03 Feb 2022 21:56:32 GMT

The number of exemptions that you have works backwards from how people commonly think. On your W4 'one' is not the least amount taken out of your check, it is the most.

If you think in terms of the number you're putting on your W4 as people it is easier.

When you were single you put '1' because it was just you as a deduction on your return.

Now that you are married you will put '2' because you and your spouse are both deductions on your return.

If you had 7 kids you would put '9' because there would be nine deductions on your return (not that I'm trying to rush you).

Here is a TurboTax article on filling out your W4.