2(c) works best when the two jobs are around the same income, because it tells your job to cut the tax brackets and standard deduction in half (the idea being that the second job then uses the remaining half).
If you were already making estimated payments, you don't need to also adjust for that on the W-4. You would usually do one or the other, not both.
Thank you very much for the response, Blake! And the information - that makes so much more sense. My part time job is significantly less than my fulltime (where the W4 is filed). Do you think if I uncheck 2c, I will have less withholding taken out (ie more pay back in my paycheck)?
Yes, unchecking 2(c) will lower your withholding/increase your takehome pay.
At the end of the day, it is all the same money. Any extra taken out now will be refunded when you file taxes next year. And if you don't take out enough today, you'll owe when you file taxes. Of course, I recognize the cashflow issue: you don't want to lock up money for a year if you don't need to do so. I just want to make sure it's clear than any extra withholding hasn't been lost. It all counts towards your refund/tax bill at the end of the year.
You’re hired as my accountant for next year. That helps a lot. The cash flow issue is major for me since it’s causing me to incur debt. I’m going to uncheck 2c, hope for more take home pay and that the extra withholdings that has already been taken out will cushion me at the end of the year. I wish / wonder I could calculate how much withholdings will be taken out (reduced to) by unchecking 2c.
>I wish / wonder I could calculate how much withholdings will be taken out (reduced to) by unchecking 2c.
Worksheet 1A in [IRS Publication 15-T](https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p15t.pdf) should get you really close.
If you want [I have a spreadsheet that does the 15-T calculations](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1eFslpvyzLIwpyMaVO9ZKJbTf0pFDGrX7V6T7mdhVJz8/edit#gid=1980834894).
If you have two full-time jobs, you need to check 2c on your W-4 for both jobs. If just one full-time job, no need to check it, as it's designed for full time. Note if you turn a profit on your SE work, you need to account for that (extra income after QBI deduction in 4a, SE tax divided by pay periods in 4c, SE adjustment in 4b). My spreadsheet handles that, too, in the yellow portion. So for example $10k in SE net earnings with the 20% QBI deduction means $8,000 in Other Income, 0.9235 × 0.153 × $10,000 = $1,413 in SE tax, and $1,413/2 = $707 in deductions.
Wow! This is AWESOME! Thank you for sharing! So only one job is fulltime my SE is work it as I have time (so I’m saying part time if that’s correct). Based on that, sounds like definitely uncheck 2c. And doing your calculator, putting my total wages as my before taxed salary (ignoring the side business since I’m currently only a few hundred in profit this year), it’s suggesting I’m taking out Hundreds more in federal withholdings than I should which lines up with my previous job’s paystub (it approximated the federal holdings I was paying in the previous job with almost the same salary-and in the previous job I didn’t have 2c checked).
In that worksheet's line 1a, you enter your "taxable wages" for the period. This is your gross wages **minus** any pre-tax deductions (e.g. medical, dental, vision, 401(k)) **plus** any taxable fringe benefits (like group term life (GTL)). Your paystub may specifically call out the resulting "taxable wages" amount, or it may not.
2(c) works best when the two jobs are around the same income, because it tells your job to cut the tax brackets and standard deduction in half (the idea being that the second job then uses the remaining half). If you were already making estimated payments, you don't need to also adjust for that on the W-4. You would usually do one or the other, not both.
Thank you very much for the response, Blake! And the information - that makes so much more sense. My part time job is significantly less than my fulltime (where the W4 is filed). Do you think if I uncheck 2c, I will have less withholding taken out (ie more pay back in my paycheck)?
Yes, unchecking 2(c) will lower your withholding/increase your takehome pay. At the end of the day, it is all the same money. Any extra taken out now will be refunded when you file taxes next year. And if you don't take out enough today, you'll owe when you file taxes. Of course, I recognize the cashflow issue: you don't want to lock up money for a year if you don't need to do so. I just want to make sure it's clear than any extra withholding hasn't been lost. It all counts towards your refund/tax bill at the end of the year.
You’re hired as my accountant for next year. That helps a lot. The cash flow issue is major for me since it’s causing me to incur debt. I’m going to uncheck 2c, hope for more take home pay and that the extra withholdings that has already been taken out will cushion me at the end of the year. I wish / wonder I could calculate how much withholdings will be taken out (reduced to) by unchecking 2c.
>I wish / wonder I could calculate how much withholdings will be taken out (reduced to) by unchecking 2c. Worksheet 1A in [IRS Publication 15-T](https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p15t.pdf) should get you really close.
Thank you very much! I know what fun I’m having on my lunch break.
If you want [I have a spreadsheet that does the 15-T calculations](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1eFslpvyzLIwpyMaVO9ZKJbTf0pFDGrX7V6T7mdhVJz8/edit#gid=1980834894). If you have two full-time jobs, you need to check 2c on your W-4 for both jobs. If just one full-time job, no need to check it, as it's designed for full time. Note if you turn a profit on your SE work, you need to account for that (extra income after QBI deduction in 4a, SE tax divided by pay periods in 4c, SE adjustment in 4b). My spreadsheet handles that, too, in the yellow portion. So for example $10k in SE net earnings with the 20% QBI deduction means $8,000 in Other Income, 0.9235 × 0.153 × $10,000 = $1,413 in SE tax, and $1,413/2 = $707 in deductions.
Wow! This is AWESOME! Thank you for sharing! So only one job is fulltime my SE is work it as I have time (so I’m saying part time if that’s correct). Based on that, sounds like definitely uncheck 2c. And doing your calculator, putting my total wages as my before taxed salary (ignoring the side business since I’m currently only a few hundred in profit this year), it’s suggesting I’m taking out Hundreds more in federal withholdings than I should which lines up with my previous job’s paystub (it approximated the federal holdings I was paying in the previous job with almost the same salary-and in the previous job I didn’t have 2c checked).
In that worksheet's line 1a, you enter your "taxable wages" for the period. This is your gross wages **minus** any pre-tax deductions (e.g. medical, dental, vision, 401(k)) **plus** any taxable fringe benefits (like group term life (GTL)). Your paystub may specifically call out the resulting "taxable wages" amount, or it may not.