Need tax form advice...

[j&js 0]

Does anyone know how important it is to update your marriage status with your employer as far as tax forms go?

Here is the situation that prompted me to ask:

My fiance will hopefully be arriving here in the next month or so. Our current plan is to have a real quick civil ceremony in our house with only close friends and family in attendance, to make sure we don't go over the 90 day limit. We are then planning a slightly bigger church wedding and reception, probably for sometime in the summer. I am a 1st year teacher in a very small town and honestly just don't want to get into my special circumstances with anyone there. I was hoping to just tell them about the summer ceremony and nothing else. Not being a company we don't have an HR department, so I would have to do some asking around to figure out who to discuss tax changes with. If leaving my form saying 'single' for awhile wouldn't make any difference in tax issues, I would prefer to just do that. But I don't want to potentially get in trouble with the IRS....

Thanks for any advice or info!

[gimygirl 0]

there is no real need to change your forms unless you are going to change your name, address and/or exemptions.

the only thing i changed on mine was my name. i have no interest in changing my exemptions (i only claim 1). i don't mind the maximum amount of tax being withheld because i enjoy a LARGE refund every february and loathe the thought of ever having to owe the IRS.

this, of course, is a personal decision. so it's up to you whether to add the exemption and have less taxes taken out or leave it as it is now.

[j&js 0]

Thanks! thats what I was hoping to hear!

I am a tax idiot, seriously, my mom still does them for me! I wasn't sure if being married would change the exemptions for me, but I agree that the way to go is take the max out now and get a refund if possible.

[gimygirl 0]

no worries!!! glad to help!

[Nikita2Charles 31]

basically you don't need to change anything on your W4, you can leave the exemption the same it's more of a tax consequences, if you change your status to married and increase your exemption then you will pay less taxes. But it's a personal choice, i leave mine the same, i rather pay the higher taxes now and get a nice refund later tax time.

But you can still update your status with HR to add your wife as a beneficiary on your company insurance policy.

[gimygirl 0]

maybe my posts ARE invisible!!?!?

[j&js 0]

Haha, I don't know, I could read it gimy!

I think the new post was to confirm and to add the health insurance issue...

[gimygirl 0]

i'm just resuming my role as resident smart-#######!!!!!

[kc456 0]

I would change the exemptions, esp if your fiance will not be working for a while -- getting a tax refund is like lending money to the government at 0% interest rate. It's your money to begin with, the IRS is doing you no favor by providing a refund.

The medical insurance is more important though, most plans only give you a certain window of time after marriage to make a change. In our case it was 30 days.

[j&js 0]

I think I will leave the exemptions alone, especially since I started a small business on the side this year and get paid without taxes taken out by law firms, so having too much money taken out of my check at my real job can only help even things out.

As far as health insurance, that I can change at the town hall and don't have to talk to anyone within my school, so I am planning on doing that as soon as we get married.

Thanks for the advice guys!

[gimygirl 0]

LOL i KNEW someone would bring up the gov't getting to you use your money interest free!!

i recommend this option to a lot of people because most are just not good savers to be blunt. if you had that extra $50-100+ a week in your paycheck, would it honestly go into savings?? i know ours does because i allot for $250/mo to be automatically transferred ... but i still enjoy that nice hunk of change once a year after i file our taxes.

[kc456 0]

I see... If you want to use the tax refund as a means of forced savings, then it's a valid option.

Overall, it's not a big deal, and IRS would not care either way.