Hi
I am married with 2 kids. My husband and me maintain own finances and contribute equally for house and kids. But everytime we file taxes under 'married and filing jointly', with him as head of household and he keeps the IRS refund with him.
What number should I keep for state and federal withholding, so my tax will be withheld just enough, without any refund or having to pay further tax.
I do not want to raise this issue with my husband as it will surely lead to a big fight.
Also- will I lose more money if we file 'married but filing seperately' status?
Me and my husband ear around 200K per year each.
Thank you very much!

I would try and minimise your Federal and State withholding by claiming a higher number of exemptions on your W-4! If you have been claiming say 4 exemptions in 2009, try and increase this to 5 or 6! At least from your standpoint, you would be minimizing your taxes.

Now, alternatively, your CPA would need to get your signature for E-File authorization. At that time, you can request that the tax refund be split evenly between you and your husband. Your share of tax refund (50%) will then go directly into your bank account, so you never have to ask your husband for the money. This might be the best course of action, as your CPA would have to comply with your wishes in order to E-file the tax return.

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Thank you for ur reply, My husband does not use a CPA, does thru tax act online, also I tried increasing the number to three before, but then I had to pay more taxes, after filing. What is the number which would be just exact, so I do not get any refund and also I do not need to pay anymore taxes?
Thank you!

There is probably no way to get it exact based upon the # of exemptions. You might be able to get pretty close by specifying an exact dollar amount. In order to do so, you would need to sit down with someone and go over your situation in great detail. In my view, if someone is within +-$500 some tax filing they did about as good as they can.

Adam

There is little chance that you will get it exact- especially just based off exemption numbers. You might be able to get closer by specifying an exact dollar amount. In my view you did a great job if you are +-$500. The easiest way to get that close is to sit down with a tax professional. Good luck.

Adam