I am with a J2 visa and an employment authorization card. My wife (J1) is a phD candidate. I have to fill a W4 and I was wondering the number of allowances to enter. thx

[bine22]

how long have you and your wife been in the US on J1/J2?

[juz4any1]

I am also searching for an answer to exactly the same question. I did some research and to the best of my understanding IRS advises that a Nonresident Alien should write "single" as the marital status and claim only one allowance in federal w-4 form. However, I am not sure if we can claim more than one allowance on State W-4 form by selecting the status as "married".

I am wondering if a J-1 can be considered for "Allowance For Your Spouse: Does your spouse work?" category. If yes, and the spouse doesn't work (although J-1 receives a stipend but I am not sure if it is considered as work for tax purposes) there is an additional allowance which makes the number of allowances equal to 2 (one for yourself and one for spouse given you don't have a child).

Can anyone please elaborate if it's okay to claim more allowance on State W-4 compared to the federal w-4?

[bine22]

where are you from and how long have you been in the US?

[juz4any1]

Why is this important?

[bine22]

If you want an answer that applies to your situation, you need to provide more info.