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Married couple file jointly. Have 4 children, should we split dependents between two jobs or leave all on one spouses job?

 
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Married couple file jointly. Have 4 children, should we split dependents between two jobs or leave all on one spouses job?

Do you mean for W-4 withholding?

Married couple file jointly. Have 4 children, should we split dependents between two jobs or leave all on one spouses job?

It can be done many ways however my suggestion would be to put them all on the higher wage earner.

Try these tools:

<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/IRS-Withholding-Calculator">http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/IRS-Withho...>

 <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools">https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools</a>

<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/calculators/taxcaster">http://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/cal...>


You can log back into your return and go though that section or open your return if you used the Desktop program.  THEN:

You can just type W4 in the search box at the top of your return , click on Find. Then Click on Jump To and it will take you to the estimated tax payments section. Say no to changing your W-4 and the next screen will start the estimated taxes section.

OR     
Go to Federal Taxes or Personal (H&B version)
Other Tax Situations
Other Tax Forms
Form W-4 and Estimated Taxes - Click the Start or Update button

Married couple file jointly. Have 4 children, should we split dependents between two jobs or leave all on one spouses job?

The IRS says that the most accurate way is to determine the total number of allowances you should claim, and put them all on the higher earner and zero on the lower earner.

Note that an allowance is not just 1 dependent = 1 allowance.  Some dependents are worth 2 (if they are at the age to qualify for the $1000 child credit).  You can also get allowances for itemizing your deductions, and you lose allowances based on the wages of the two jobs.  The W-4 is just a tool to try and estimate close to the tax you expect to owe, and allowances are just numbers to help accomplish that.

Start with the worksheet on the W-4 form, if you go through it and can understand it, it will help understand the concept of allowances.  Then try the tools linked above (IRS site, Turbotax site) and see if they come close to each other.  If you are changing jobs or adding a job in the middle of the year, you may get one result that will work for the rest of this year, then need to run the calculation again in January 2017 for the next year.

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