Help for Federal Retiree Filling out W4P

[rfunger]

I am a federal retiree retiring 30 June of this year. Currently my tax withholding is married with 2 exemptions.  After retirement the only source of income for my wife and me will be Social Security and my pension although I may take a withdrawal from my TSP (401k) of about 30k.  I have one dependent adult child at home. How should  I fill out my W4P?

[Vanessa A]

It depends.  If you want to come close to break even with no refund, no tax due, then you would fill it out as married filing jointly, enter in Step 3 that you have 2 dependents and in Step 4 enter $30k withdraw.   It is a good idea to use the IRS estimator to fill this out.  

If you want to be on the safer side, then you do not need to include that you have dependents and you can claim married filing separately.  This does not in any way affect how you actually file, it only affects how much you have withheld.  

If there is a good chance of 401k withdrawal, you should definitely include that as this will affect your overall income tax rate.