Increase the Paycheck with a Tax Calculator

 Flickr/CC - numberstumper

There's no mystery to taxes really for the average wage earner, it is just a matter of figuring out if you want a big refund and smaller paycheck or if you want a smaller refund and a bigger paycheck.

If you are like me and you always seem to owe, then sitting down to the IRS tax calculator this time of year would be a good decision. Or if you wanted a smaller tax refund this year then last year, this would be the perfect time of the year to get that straightened out.

This calculator allows you to determine if you need to adjust your w-4 with your employer. These adjustments can be made at anytime of the year.


Who Can Benefit From The Withholding Calculator?

• Employees who would like to change their withholding to reduce their tax refund or their balance due.
• Employees who may need to increase their withholding due to the Making Work Pay provision in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, that caused changes to the federal income tax withholding tables and may result in too little tax being withheld.
• Employees whose situations are only approximated by the worksheets on the paper W-4 (e.g., anyone with concurrent jobs, or couples in which both are employed; those entitled to file as Head of Household; and those with several children eligible for the Child Tax Credit);
• Employees with non-wage income in excess of their adjustments and deductions, who would prefer to have tax on that income withheld from their paychecks rather than make periodic separate payments through the estimated tax procedures.

CAUTION:    If you will be subject to alternative minimum tax, self-employment tax, or other taxes or, if any of your current jobs will end before the end of the year, you will probably achieve more accurate withholding by following the instructions in Publication 919, How Do I Adjust My Tax Withholding?

You will need: 

• Your most recent pay stubs handy.
• Your most recent income tax return handy.

Of course, the optimum result is that you owe nothing and you get no refund. Even-Steven.