I have a regular full time, salaried job, at which I am full-fledged employee. I am taking another job, as a contract worker, through a staffing agency for some extra income. Both “jobs” will be held at the same time. The staffing agency is having me fill out a W4. I am very confused on how to fill this out. I am married, filing jointly, and my spouse works. I have 3 children, all under the age of 17. My question is, does this contract worker position I am taking constitute having “multiple jobs”. Do I need to account for this somehow on the W4 I am filling out for the staffing agency?
If the agency wants you to fill out a W-4 that suggests you will be a W-2 employee, as opposed to an independent contractor. You need to get them to clarify that for you. What exactly do you mean by "contract worker?" If you will be a W-2 employee then, yes, you will have multiple jobs for which tax must be withheld. If you work as an independent contractor, you will be self-employed as far as the IRS is concerned and will have to pay self-employment tax for Social Security and Medicare as well as ordinary income tax.
Thank you for your reply. Yes, I will definitely be a W-2 employee with the staffing agency, not an independent contractor. Sorry for that confusion. So looking at the W4, I am having a lot of trouble discerning the correct way to fill it out. Is there a service you could recommend that could help guide me through that? Between the "multiple jobs" worksheet and the higher-paying-job/lower-paying-job table, I'm at a bit of a loss.