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New Member
posted Jul 31, 2019 11:34:53 PM

Can I use a negative number on the personal allowances portion of my W-4?

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2 Replies
Level 15
Aug 1, 2019 5:03:13 AM

No.....but there is a field/line where you can enter an additional flat amount to have withheld with every paycheck.   Thus a zero allowance, uses whatever the maximum withholding is for your filing status...and if that isn't quite enough to cover the eventual taxes on your other income, you can add in an additional flat amount to be withheld.

 

Most of the State's W4-equivalent forms probably also have a similar line....but take a bit of care here... if you have more than 20-25% of gross withheld for state taxes, some states require paper filing thru the mail since they want to see the actual W-2 with such a large withholding amount.  You probably wouldn't do that on a main job, but some folks have done this for a low paying second job and been surprised that the state has to be mail-filed just because of that one W-2 form.

 

Not sure if the Feds have an upper % limit that forces a paper-file...I've never encountered it yet, but if one exists,  it would likely be somewhere above 30-40% of gross.  (perhaps someone else in here knows of a Federal tax withholding limit that forces Fed paper-filing) 

Level 15
Aug 1, 2019 10:57:19 AM

I have a client , due to his tax situation, he withholds 100% of the ira distribution for federal taxes and we have no trouble e-filing the return.