<p>Does anyone know of a good calculator or approach for filling out a W-4 for a summer job when those 12 weeks will represent almost the entirety of the student's earnings for the calendar year. His total earnings are high enough that tax will be due, but not as much as will be withheld if he filled out the W-4 "normally" without taking into account the part-year nature of his work.</p>
<p>To answer my own question, for the benefit of anyone else interested, the IRS has such a calculator on their site</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/IRS-Withholding-Calculator[/url]”>http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/IRS-Withholding-Calculator</a></p>
<p>In the end, the student is likely to get the money back via tax refund.</p>
<p>Claim 10. I think that is the max before the company has to file the form with the IRS.</p>
<p>Even if student under withholds, there is likely not to be any penalties, but you will want to confirm that. You will also want to do an estimate of taxes to make sure they do withhold enough (or student saves enough to pay taxes due).</p>
<p>Of course if the student doesn’t owe the tax, they will get it back eventually, but if they need the money to pay for expenses during the school year, they don’t want to wait until April to get it back! Also if the student won’t make enough money to have to file, they will only be required to file if they need to do so to get their withheld taxes back.</p>
<p>S checked the box for exempt and the employer did not withhold any tax (except a small “signing bonus” he received before he had completed the W4).</p>
<p>My DS is actually fortunate enough to be making too much to be “exempt”.</p>
<p>Oh, well that is fortunate! My S met the filter - he got all his taxes back the previous year and “anticipated” getting all his taxes back that year after filing his taxes. With “exempt” he did still have to file his taxes because he made over the amount requiring it. But they did not withhold “in good faith”. If he had been wrong then he would have had to pay taxes at the time that he filed.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>or for FASFA verification purposes. Much easier to link to a filed return, even if the return shows $0.</p>
<p>I was thinking mainly of the states – my DS has his permanent residence in one state, goes to school (and works during school) in another, and works for the summer in a third. Having to file federal plus THREE states is a pain, so for a student who might not be required to file in some of those states except to get his withheld state taxes bask, avoiding the withholding could be quite useful, even if they are going to file federal taxes for FAFSA purposes.</p>
<p>Dor state taxes you’re going to need to file the appropriate state forms, and calculate the possible wothholding/taxes due for each state. With 3 states, it can get tricky making the different rules balance out in your favor.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Is he earning money in all three states? You will only have to file state taxes in states where money is earned.</p>
<p>Calculators won’t help you in that situation. Your best option is to take the most recent tax form available for that state and do the calculation. You will have to do a lot of pro-ration for non-resident or part-year resident.</p>
<p>He earns money in two states, and has to file in our home state also even though he does not earn money there, because he is a resident, and our state requires it if he has income anywhere. You’re right that the calculators don’t totally help for the states, but if you don’t fill out a state W-4, doesn’t the company usually use the federal W-4 as a guide for how much state tax to withhold also? And given that the federal calculator (if you use the complicated multiple jobs version) tells the individual how many exemptions to put on each W-4 that should get it close to correct. </p>
<p>In the end my DS decided not to use the calculator and just deal with getting too much withheld and getting it back in the spring, when it will give him cash on hand for getting on his feet next summer (apartment deposit, surviving until the first paycheck, etc.)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Depends upon how much he earns, and where he claims residency. If he is below the income limits to file, then he doesn’t have to file. In that case, he only has to file if he wants to get a refund.</p>
<p>He also can claim residency in the state where he goes to school (I presume that is one of the state’s where he has income).</p>
<p>Our son owed money in our home state, and he definitely had to file. I don’t think there would be any tax benefit to him to claiming residency in the state where he goes to school. (I think it would have actually cost him more in total.) I’m also not certain that it’s true that he can claim residency there, according to the rules of all the states involved.</p>