BristolBane
Recycles dryer sheets
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2005
- Messages
- 62
I ran into a big problem with my 2004 income taxes. You see, when I was single I always got a nice refund check of around $600 from the Feds and $150 or so from the state. I always claimed 1 allowance on my W-4. No problems.
Well I got married in late 2003 and after our first full calendar year together (2004) we decided to file "married filing jointly". Wham! We had a tax bill of $2000 due. It would have been even more if I wasn't able to deduct some mortgage interest and school expenses.
What happened? My wife doesn't claim any allowances on her W-4 (zero) so I figured it was my fault and I switched my allowances to zero reducing my net pay. I even looked up the withholding table at the IRS website and the withholding amount is correct my income and filing status. Yet, Quicken tells me I may be under-withholding again this year. So I ran my numbers through the IRS estimator and sure enough I am projected to be short again next year. What the heck is going on? I make the same money as I did when I was single, have more withheld and still wind up owing taxes when I used to get a refund?? Is this the marriage penalty? I thought the did away with that. Any ideas?
Well I got married in late 2003 and after our first full calendar year together (2004) we decided to file "married filing jointly". Wham! We had a tax bill of $2000 due. It would have been even more if I wasn't able to deduct some mortgage interest and school expenses.
What happened? My wife doesn't claim any allowances on her W-4 (zero) so I figured it was my fault and I switched my allowances to zero reducing my net pay. I even looked up the withholding table at the IRS website and the withholding amount is correct my income and filing status. Yet, Quicken tells me I may be under-withholding again this year. So I ran my numbers through the IRS estimator and sure enough I am projected to be short again next year. What the heck is going on? I make the same money as I did when I was single, have more withheld and still wind up owing taxes when I used to get a refund?? Is this the marriage penalty? I thought the did away with that. Any ideas?