My wife and I with our two children moved to the United States in September last year. For the 2020 tax year, I was the only one earning and so filing the W-4 with my employer and then tax return was relatively simple, because it was for just one person (wife did not have a TIN or SSN at the time). Now, my wife is also authorized to work and as of this week, she just accepted two job offers at the same time. One is a properly, salaried teaching position, and the other is a freelancing contract.
The contractual employer has just asked for a W-9, which is straightforward enough. But her teaching job has asked us for the W-4 which is now leading to all these questions. Since we're new to the process, some guidance here will be very much appreciated.
Thank you in advance for any guidance.
Taking the children on both W4's may result in not having enough withheld. You can plan to have additional withholding to cover her contract income, or you can make estimated tax payments.
The IRS has a W4 calculator that can be helpful with these situations. Start by going through these screens.
Your wife can claim 0 dependents and if needed have additional funds withheld. You want to be sure that you pay enough in so that you do not end up with more than $1000 not withheld.
A penalty is imposed if there is more than $1000 underpaid.