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Re:IRS to release new, more complex W-4 form this year by cmurf on Tuesday April 09, 2019 @03:02PM (#19617891)
Unlikely. You sign the W-4 statement:

Under penalties of perjury, I declare that I have examined this certificate and, to the best of my knowledge and belief, it is true, correct, and complete.

Where you must have at least an allowance of 1, for yourself. And why would you want fewer allowances? That results in more withholding, which is an interest free loan to the government.

You can claim a withholding exemption only if last year's tax liability was zero, and if you expect this year's tax liability will be zero.

Re:IRS to release new, more complex W-4 form this year by jedberg on Tuesday April 09, 2019 @03:07PM (#19617947)
> And why would you want fewer allowances?

Because you have investment income that is otherwise untaxed. I know someone who put 0 and still owed money at the end of the year, but didn't have to make quarterly payments. She had enough investment income to owe, but not enough to hit penalty levels of owing.

Re:IRS to release new, more complex W-4 form this year by javagram on Tuesday April 09, 2019 @03:09PM (#19617980)
I don’t think that oath prevents you from putting zero allowances.

Nothing on the form states that the number of allowances you claim needs to match the worksheet’s results.

The IRS online calculator will explicitly give you different allowances to claim than the worksheet does.

The penalty of perjury would apply if you used a fake SSN or address.

Re:IRS to release new, more complex W-4 form this year by toast0 on Tuesday April 09, 2019 @03:09PM (#19617974)
> Where you must have at least an allowance of 1, for yourself. And why would you want fewer allowances? That results in more withholding, which is an interest free loan to the government.

If you have other income that's not easy to setup withholding on (such as stock related income, a home sale, or rental income), it can be useful to have more withholding from employment income. A benefit is that you are allowed to pretend withholding is evenly distributed over the year, even if it's not, or if it's more beneficial, you can use the actual timeline for withholding, although that takes a lot more effort.

Re:IRS to release new, more complex W-4 form this year by zaroth on Tuesday April 09, 2019 @03:18PM (#19618053)
That applies to your personal information, and your answer to Question 7 (if you are exempt from withholding entirely), which is the only affirmative statements you make on the form.

Lines 5 and 6 are choices the taxpayer makes based on their expected level of withholding. The worksheet is not submitted, and not completed under penalty of perjury.

You can absolutely over-withhold and just put zero. The IRS has zero issue with that whatsoever.

Re:IRS to release new, more complex W-4 form this year by rbritton on Tuesday April 09, 2019 @03:08PM (#19617965)
One reason I've used 0 in the past is to allow for multiple income sources (e.g., an employee at one company and a self-employed side project). The worksheet allows for negative offsets to be added into the final deduction count recorded. It avoids the need to deal with quarterlies if the withholding amounts are close enough.
Re:IRS to release new, more complex W-4 form this year by pwinnski on Tuesday April 09, 2019 @03:05PM (#19617922)
You might want fewer allowances if you have another source of income for which nothing has been withheld.

The only way for me to avoid making payments is to specifically ask for an additional amount to be withheld in addition to claiming an allowance of 0.

Re:IRS to release new, more complex W-4 form this year by darkstar999 on Tuesday April 09, 2019 @03:15PM (#19618037)
There are no allowances on the new W4.
Re:IRS to release new, more complex W-4 form this year by zaroth on Tuesday April 09, 2019 @03:20PM (#19618073)
Is this the preview of the new W-4? Line 5...

[1] - https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-dft/fw4--dft.pdf

EDIT: Apparently not. Would have been nice if TFA could have shown up the draft form?