W4 Withholding

[D3siverl]

Hi,

My twins were born June 2023. For some reason I was single and not head of house hold all the way up until January 2024. I adjusted my W4 for 500 and did not claim the full 4K. I got a large income tax refund back but that was because of the childcare credit as well. When I file for 2024 I want a refund back. Currently, I am claiming 300 or 400 instead of 4K. I also paid Nanny taxes for the 1st and part of 2nd quarter.  What do you recommend I do to get the most back on my income taxes? 

[xmasbaby0]

When you entered your children as dependents in MY INFO, did you say they lived with you the WHOLE YEAR?   You have to say they lived with you all year, even if they were born on December 31 of the tax year you are filing for.    

As for filing as Head of Household---did you answer the questions in MY INFO correctly?

Am I Head of Household?

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1894553-do-i-qualify-for-head-of-household

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/2900097-what-is-a-qualifying-person-for-head-of-household

If you qualify as Head of Household, when you enter your marital status (single or married filing separately) into MyInfo, and then enter your qualifying dependent, TurboTax will offer HOH as your filing status.

If you made a mistake on your 2023 return you can amend it after it has been fully processed.

See this TurboTax support FAQ for amending a tax return - https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/tax-return/amend-change-correct-return-a...

Do not expect quick results from amending. It can take five months or more for the IRS to process an amended return.  

You can watch for information here:

https://www.irs.gov/Filing/Individuals/Amended-Returns-(Form-1040-X)/Wheres-My-Amended-Return-1

[xmasbaby0]

Some people do love those big refunds.  But remember that if you are having more withheld just to get a big refund, all you are doing is giving the government an interest free loan of your money all year.

https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/calculators/w4/ 

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/tax-withholding-estimator

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw4.pdf

[DashonnonH]

Assuming the $4000 you stated is referring to child tax credit for 2 children and you qualify for the full $2000 per child... 

If you do not claim the entire amount of $4000 on your W4, your employer is not considering the entire tax credit when he calculates how much your tax withholding should be from each paycheck. You will pay more taxes during the year, but will receive a larger refund when you file your taxes. 

The same is true if you filed single on your W4, but file your tax return with Head of Household. You would get more back on your tax return because your employer calculated your tax withholding on the single tax rate instead of head of household tax rate. During the year you would be paying too much taxes and would receive the overage on your tax return when filed. 

You could also use the "additional withholding" on line 4c of the W4 to allocate a specific amount from your paycheck.