Should I claim 0 or 1 on W-4 tax withholding as a single person with no dependents?

Thanks for explaining! I had no idea they changed the W-4 form. My workplace still talks about it as 0 or 1 so I assumed it was the same. Would switching to the equivalent of claiming "1" likely cause me to owe money at tax time, or would it just reduce my refund? Also, is there any kind of calculator I could use to figure out how much more I'd get per paycheck?

Whether you'd owe money depends on your specific tax situation and if you have any other income or deductions. For most single filers with one job and no dependents, claiming the equivalent of "1" usually just reduces your refund rather than causing you to owe, but it's not guaranteed. The IRS has a Tax Withholding Estimator on their website that can help you determine the right withholding for your situation. You can also ask your payroll department to calculate what your check would look like with different withholding amounts. The difference could be around $20-40 per weekly paycheck depending on your exact situation.

Does this actually work? I've been looking for something like this but worried about sharing my tax info on some random site. How much does it cost and do they keep your info after?

I'm confused about the new W-4. So there's no more 0 or 1 options? What am I supposed to put down now? My HR person just told me to claim 1 but didn't really explain anything else about the form.

It absolutely works and helped me get my withholding right. They use bank-level encryption and don't store your tax documents after the analysis is completed. The analysis shows you exactly what to put on each line of the new W-4 form based on your specific situation. The new W-4 doesn't use allowances anymore (no more 0, 1, 2, etc.). Instead, you fill out different steps about additional income, deductions, and dependents. That's why it's confusing - your HR person is still using outdated terminology. The tool walks you through exactly what to put on each line of the new form to get the outcome you want.

Wait I've never heard of this. How does it actually work? Do they just keep calling the IRS repeatedly until they get through? I've been trying to get an answer about my tax situation for weeks.

This sounds like BS. Nobody can get through to the IRS right now. You probably just work for this company or something. The IRS phone lines have been jammed for months.

They use a system that keeps your place in the IRS phone queue so you don't have to sit there listening to hold music for hours. When they reach a real person, they connect the call to your phone. It's basically like having someone else wait on hold for you. I was super skeptical too, but I was desperate after trying for days. I followed the process, put in my phone number, and about 20 minutes later my phone rang and there was an actual IRS agent ready to talk to me. Was honestly shocked it worked. Not affiliated with them at all - just a regular person who was tired of listening to IRS hold music!

That's actually really smart. Do you know if increasing 401k contributions requires doing anything with the W-4 form too? Or is that completely separate?

The 401k contribution is completely separate from your W-4 withholding. You just need to contact your HR department or log into your benefits portal to increase your 401k contribution percentage. The nice thing is that 401k contributions are taken out pre-tax, so they reduce your taxable income automatically. This approach worked really well for me because the money goes straight to savings before I even see it in my paycheck, so there's no temptation to spend it. Plus, if you're not maxing out your employer match, you're basically getting free money on top of the tax benefits.

This happened to me too! Had a full-time job and weekend bartending gig. Got absolutely destroyed at tax time because neither job knew about the other one. How did you fix it?

I had to adjust my withholding on the higher-paying job to have extra tax taken out to cover both incomes. The IRS withholding calculator helped me figure out exactly how much extra to withhold. You can also make quarterly estimated tax payments if you prefer to keep more in each paycheck, but I found it easier to just have it automatically taken out of my main job's paycheck.

This is really helpful to hear from someone in such a similar situation! I think I've been overthinking this whole thing. The idea of getting an extra $30 per paycheck sounds way better than waiting for a big refund that I might not even get anymore. Did you use any specific calculator or tool to figure out how to fill out the new W-4, or did you just work with your HR department? I'm still a bit confused about what exactly to put on the new form since it's so different from the old allowance system.

I worked with HR initially, but honestly they weren't super helpful since a lot of HR folks are still getting used to the new W-4 format themselves. What really helped me was using the IRS withholding estimator that someone mentioned earlier - it's free and walks you through step by step. For someone in your situation (single, one job, no dependents), the new W-4 is actually pretty straightforward. You basically just fill out steps 1 and 5 (personal info and signature), and leave most of the middle sections blank. The key is NOT checking the box in step 2c if you only have one job - that's a common mistake that causes way too much tax to be withheld. The estimator will tell you if you need to put any specific dollar amounts in step 4, but for most single filers with straightforward situations, you can leave that blank too. Much simpler than I thought it would be once I actually understood what each section was for!