My wife and I got married in early August. We forgot to change our W-4, and now I don’t know what to do. We wanted to file jointly, but I can’t afford to have a tax penalty. Should we just file separately? Can I change my W-4 status at the beginning of the new year to file jointly without penalty?
Forgot to change my W-4 after getting married
byu/D_Panda32 intax
Posted by D_Panda32
9 Comments
If you are both working and make similar incomes, then you did exactly the right thing by not changing it. That is the best way to get the right amount of withholding.
You should still file jointly even though your W-4 says “Married filing separately”. That’s fine.
If you don’t make similar incomes, then you may want to make changes to reduce your withholding.
You can still file joint.
The w4 doesn’t lock in your filing status.
It’s just for the withholding math.
It’s often totally correct to have your w4 set to single even when you file joint.
If you change it, you might and up owing at tax time due to under withholding.
The IRS does not see and does not care what you put on your W-4. That’s between you and your employer. File your tax return however it is most advantageous to file your tax return.
If your spouse works, the setting you have is already correct. If it would bring you enormous personal delight, you can update your W-4 right now to put “Married Filing Jointly” and then check the box in Step 2 that says your spouse also works. But that means ***exactly the same thing*** as if you just leave it “Single”. So your employer will look at that, nod, and chuck it in the trash without changing anything. It’d be easier and more accurate for everyone to just leave it the way it is.
If your spouse ***doesn’t*** work, then you can and should change your W-4 to say “Married Filing Jointly” (and don’t check the box). But you wouldn’t pay penalties this year. In fact, that would mean you withheld ***too much*** tax this year, and would likely get a refund.
The W-4 only tells your employer how much money to withhold. At the end of the year, you can still choose to file separately or jointly, but if married, it’s usually better to file married jointly.
You’re gonna be fine you I’ll probably get a refund if you’re both paying single taxes
What you have on your W4 has no bearing on how you file your tax return.
File jointly, you will be fine.
Penalty is only if you under-withhold across the year, so there’s still time to adjust if you really think you need to.
IRS uses “Safe Harbor Withholding” to determine if your withholding is out of compliance and therefore could result in a penalty. There are four different ways to determine whether you’re in compliance or not. Two are based on last year’s taxes, and two are based on this year.
For last year: Find the total tax from last year’s tax return(s).
* If your income (AGI) was over 150k joint / 75k single last year then if you withhold at least 110% of last year’s total tax, you’re in compliance
* If your income was under 150k joint / 75k single last year, then if you withhold at least 100% of last year’s total tax, you’re in compliance
What I don’t know is how IRS treats filing single -> filing joint. I would think it would add them together. but do they add them together and then do the percentage computation on the whole, or do the do it on the parts?
I would think 110% of the sum of last year’s total taxes from your tax returns would be safe.
For this year:
* if you owe less than $1000, then you’re safe
* if you withhold at least 90% of what’s owed, then you’re safe
Last year, I sold a lot of stock for considerable profit; I wrote the IRS a 5-digit check as a result of underwithholding… but because my 2024 withholding was at least 110% of my 2023 total tax, I owed no penalties or interest.
***This year***, I can’t use 2024’s total tax because I can’t afford to meet all my financial goals and eat and over-withhold because of last year’s larger-than-normal tax bill. As of today, All the variables in my 2025 job income are done, so I can estimate where I am with the 90% or $1000 safe-harbor aspects.
You can change your w4 whenever you want.
If you still have your w4 as single and you end up filing as Married Filing Jointly, you’re going to get back one helluva tax refund. : )
What… no your W4 has zip, nada, nothing to do with how you file. The IRS doesn’t even see this form. It’s just instructions to your employer how to withhold.
In fact, if you both work, and make similar income, it’s often recommended that you simply leave your W4 set to single.
You file JOINT. Unless you are divorcing and separated. (or trying to game income based student loan repayments)
If you don’t make similar income, then you will simply be loaning the government extra money, which you will get back in April as a refund on your return.