Question

Updating W4 from "Single" to married and "Filing jointly" + a newborn

Forum|Forum|4 years ago
December 10, 2021
1 reply
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Greetings,

My current W4 reads as "Single" with no allowances or dependents. On January 2022, I want to update it to reflect the changes in my life.

Some info:

- I am now married

- Our child was born in October 2021

- My wife is a stay at home wife with no income.
- We live in California

What would be the best way to fill out my W4? I'm not too worried about getting a bit fat tax return, I mainly want to reduce the taxes that are withheld from each paycheck.

Thanks!

DanielV01

Employee

Yes, that is an acceptable way to fill out your W4. Much depends on the tax result you want to obtain at the end of the year. If your goal is more "take-home" pay now, then using those settings (Married Filing Jointly, and include the dependent) will, in fact, reduce the amount of taxes withheld paycheck-over-paycheck. Leaving it as single with 0 dependents is still legal (since the W4 does not obligate you to file your tax return as single or married filing separately), but will result in more tax withheld. Single (or married filing separately) would be recommended if your spouse was also working, to ensure that sufficient tax is withheld.

Congratulations on your marriage and the birth of your child! Many years of happiness!

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Critter-3

Use the Tax Withholding Estimator on the IRS web site to figure out what you and your husband should each put on the W-4 forms that you give to your employers. It's much easier than using the worksheets on the form. It will let you adjust your withholding to get the approximate refund amount that you want.

Tax Withholding Estimator