Hello, my wife and I recently moved to California and started our new jobs. We just got married in February so will be filing as married - jointly next year. Since we both work and I am projected to make more how should we fill out the W-4 form? Should I claim "1" allowance for myself and "1" for my spouse and she claim "1" for herself? Thank you for your help!
FYI ... there are no more "allowances" on the new W-4 forms. And one of you should be choosing the SINGLE/MFS option... usually the one with the lower income. If you have kids only one of you should claim them although to be safe you each can simply choose the SINGLE/MFS option and adjust later if you have way too much withheld. Under no circumstance should you both claim MARRIED and both claim any dependents (if you have any).
Use the Tax Withholding Estimator on the IRS web site to figure out what you and your spouse should each put on the W-4 forms that you give to your employers. It's much easier than using the worksheets on the form. It will let you adjust your withholding to get the approximate refund amount that you want.
Thank you for your response but my question was regarding specifically the California State W-4 (https://edd.ca.gov/siteassets/files/pdf_pub_ctr/de4.pdf) and there are allowances that we claim. It also asks for our tax status which we choose from single, married, or head of household. There is no married filing single vs jointly option.
For our situation, my wife and I both work and have no children/dependents. I am assuming we both select married tax status and claim "1" for ourselves however there is this option - "Allowance for your spouse (if not separately claimed by your spouse) — enter 1". Should the person making more money claim the other spouse? Thank you!