Is it legal to not have taxes deducted from your paycheck?

[questions]

I need some tax advice and hopefully you can help or point me in the right direction. I'm in a financial bind at the moment and need all of my paycheck if possible. I am single with no kids and only have a part time job making minimum wage. I don't think I qualify for "exempt" since had to pay taxes for last year. Is there any legal way to NOT have any taxes taken out for 2 or 3 checks? I was told I might be able to claim a high# such as 10+ and this would help, but is this legal? I was trying to read through the forums for the answer but need better help understanding. Please help

Thanks

[bjl584]

Yes. But you can't elect to have no Social Security Tax taken out. And, you most likely won't be able to stop State taxes from being taken out either. And, if you under pay by too much on your Federal Taxes you will be hit with a penalty.

I'm going to have to say that this isn't worth it. If you work part time for minimum wage, then there isn't much Federal Tax coming out of your check in the first place.

You would be better off trying to work more hours, find a second job, cut expenses, sell unwanted items, or some combination of those things.

[jpg7n16]

You can choose to overreduce your withholdings, but you may end up running into other tax problems.

Like estimated taxes: http://www.irs.gov/Help-&-Resources/...ls/Individuals

And just because you didn't have it taken from your paycheck, doesn't mean you don't owe those taxes. How bad do you want to be in debt to the Goverment? There are some pretty steep penalties for not paying your taxes on time. Can you really afford to have extra penalties right now?


Any chance of overtime? Side jobs? Both of those would be more beneficial than adjusting your withholdings all the way to $0.


If you plan to get a refund, you should absolutely change your withholdings anyways to get that amount earlier.

I'd advise going here: http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/IRS-W...ing-Calculator -- and adjusting to whatever number that says.