I screwed up. UPDATE! money found!

[RossMAN]

You're welcome, that's what I'm here for...well, sorta.

Thanks Keith Dave!

 

[rudeguy]

Awesome!

I love happy endings :awe:

 

[CPA]

Been going through that myself recently, was converted to full time beginning of this year and did the same withholding I've always done, but with my daughter and student loan debt, I was being WAY over withheld...went through the w4 worksheets for the first time and ended up with like 10 exemptions. We're 10 pay periods through the year and I've already met about 70-80% of my estimated tax burden. Getting an extra couple hundred a month in my check after adjusting my withholding.

Man i wish everyone did this. It really only takes about 30 minutes, twice a year. Do it once half way through the year, and once around Oct/Nov.

Good job!

 

[dullard]

Man i wish everyone did this. It really only takes about 30 minutes, twice a year. Do it once half way through the year, and once around Oct/Nov.

Good job!

I certainly do it. Once in early-January when I calculate my estimated taxes for the year. A second time when my wife gets her bonus (if she gets one). And a third time when I get my bonus (if I get one).

If I could have one request for the whole system would be to be able to choose a straight dollar amount for everything on the paychecks (maybe with a little checkbox stating that you understand that purposely underwitholding could cause fees and interest). It would be so nice to just withhold $X each paycheck for the 401k, $Y each paycheck for the federal taxes, and $Z each paycheck for the state taxes. That would make this so, so much easier for everyone involved. Take the amount you need to withhold for each item and divide by the number of paychecks. So, so much easier than the confusing, complex, labor intensive (for HR and for the employee), and imprecise exemption mess we have now.

Sure, you can somewhat do it by claiming a large number of exemptions. But that is essentially lying to the government and what works for the federal exemptions doesn't work for state.

And there is no exemption trick like that for the 401k. Every job that I or my wife has ever worked at only gives whole integer 401k contribution percentages. Percentates are useless when you don't know what your salary may be (comissions, raises, promotions) or your bonuses may be throughout the year. And percentages never let you hit your true dollar amount for the year. The closest that I can get is to within about $25 and that is if I magically know the exact day that HR updates the 401k withholdings each paycheck so that the percentage change applies to the paycheck that I want and not the paycheck before/after.

1st world problem I know. But this hassle is one reason why not enough people update their withholdings.

 

[Train]

^^ Really? I've been able to give exact dollar amounts on W4's

Also, you can fill out a seperate W4 for State and Federal if you wish. Just go talk to Payroll or HR.

I typically claim one less on Michigan because Michigan likes to fuck people over.

 

[dullard]

^^ Really? I've been able to give exact dollar amounts on W4's

Also, you can fill out a seperate W4 for State and Federal if you wish. Just go talk to Payroll or HR.

I typically claim one less on Michigan because Michigan likes to fuck people over.

I've worked at 4 places since graduation where the withholding really mattered. Two of them had incompetent HR people who couldn't handle a state and a federal W4. Each one will override the other in their mind or their computer system. Two of the four companies could handle it properly. But still, why the hassle of filing multiple W4s and hoping it goes right? And I've never seen the ability to give an exactly amount for the 401k (I'm sure it is possible, but I haven't seen it yet).