First job in 10 years, how do I fill out W-4, help!

[mommymk]

Hi there,

I have been a stay at home mom for the past 10 years and just got hired as a substitute teacher. Filling out the packet of paperwork and I am stumped by what allowances to put down on the W-4. Spent an hour googling and reading and still no closer to a number. Here's our situation - married, 2 kids. Last year's AGI was around 51K, we got a refund of around 3K. We like the refund amount and want to keep it about the same. Hubby's paycheck has 3 allowances taken out of it, what should I put on my W-4? The same? Or different? And should I use Married or Married, but withhold at the higher single rate. No clue as to how much I will earn, but lets say between $500-$1000 for the rest of this year and around 5-7K for next year.

Thank you!

[Druid]

You can use a W4 calculator:
https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/calculators/w4/

https://www.irs.gov/Individuals/IRS-Withholding-Calculator

70 percent of the population can probably get away with just claiming 0 to 2 total allowances plus 1 for each dependent. As long as you don't underpay the government by more than a $1000 you will not incur penalties. This gives you a little bit of breathing room in filling out the W4. If you are business savy you may even want to take out a $1000 interest free loan each year from the government and move it to productive assets.

If you have a 401k, HSA, IRA, and possible credits you should probably just fill out the w4 calculator.