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New Member
posted Jan 27, 2021 4:43:06 PM

I have never owed federal taxes until this year, should I enter in 0 instead of 1 on my W4 even though I have a child?

Owing to federal for the first time ever!!!

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2 Replies
Expert Alumni
Jan 27, 2021 4:57:03 PM

The simplest thing to do would be to divide the tax amount that you owe by the number of pay periods you have in a year, and have that amount of additional tax taken from your pay. You can do this as part of your W-4 form entries.

New Member
Jan 27, 2021 5:19:15 PM

This makes sense, thank you! I was just so shocked to owe when that has never happened before but I guess it makes sense because my federal withholdings have been much lower than the previous year as this is the first full year we’ve been parents and clearly still have some learning to do!!