How do I fill out a w4 form? I am 18 years old and never had a job before.

[nrod78]

I am 18 years old, a full time college student, and my parents still claim me as a dependent. I will be working part time and will only be making $10 an hour for about 8 hours a month. I will only be working until the semester is over so in total I will only be working for about 5 months, making about a total of about $400 (give or take a couple dollars). Will I be able to claim exempt on the w4 form or should I claim 1 allowance (1 because I am single and only have one job)? Since I never worked before I meet the two criteria in order to claim exemption (do I? Someone please confirm this) - Last year I had a right to a refund of all federal income tax withheld because I had no tax liability, and this year I expect a refund of all federal income tax withheld because I expect to have no tax liability.

I just don't want to get into any trouble with the IRS so please help me. Thank you

[georgesT · Accepted solution]

You can still claim the exemption on your W4. Your income will not be enough for you to be required to file taxes.

In either case, you will still get the tax withholding if any, when you file your taxes.

You are not required to file 2017 taxes if you made less than $10,400 in 2017.

Use this IRS Interactive Tool To determine if you should file.

https://www.irs.gov/uac/do-i-need-to-file-a-tax-return 

[Carl]

Read he instructions at https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw4.pdf