How to fill out W4 after changing employers

[drstevensjr]

I recently changed employers after 12 years and used to claim 3 on my previous employers W4, now the IRS changed it from number of dependents to dollar amount.  How much should I be listing?  I don't want to owe at the end of the year, yet I don't want to get too much taxes taken out during the year.

[KanM361]

Hello,

You need to multiply the number of qualifying children under the age 17 (16 and under) by $2,000 (which is the amount of Child tax Credit for 2022)  to enter the dollar amount in the fist line of step 3 and multiply the number of other dependents by $500 and enter the dollar amount in second line of step 3.

Please let me know if you need any clarification on the above or have any additional questions.

[drstevensjr]

@KanM361 So for claiming 3 dependents under 16 I would need to claim $6,000?  I just wanted to make sure I was doing it correctly as at my current employer we don't have an actual W4 form to fill out with the HR paperwork, we go onto our HR information and input the deductions we want withheld. I began the employment originally with $0 withheld then changed it to $6,000 and suddenly federal taxes stopped being taken out and I just figured it was playing catchup from the change but after the third paycheck of $0 federal taxes coming out I changed it back to $0 withheld out of fear of having to owe at the end of the year.

[KanM361]

If the format of W4 is not the same with your employer, you will have to be very careful with entering the infomation. Bottomline is you have 3 dependents and if that's what they are asking you, you just need to enter 3. 

[drstevensjr]

@KanM361 Ok, so you're saying to put the $6,000 then.  They're asking $ withheld and when I contacted HR about the changes they said it's now as $ instead of the number of dependents.  I just wanted to make sure the $6,000 was correct as I felt it was kind of odd for 3 pay checks to have $0 federal taken out when I had the $6,000 listed as withholding whereas when I first started I just had $0 as I was unsure what to put and they were taking federal out.  I just don't want to end up owing in the end.