In: Accounting
if a person has 0 withholding allowances do they still get a withholding subtracted from their paycheck?
Practically speaking, claiming 0 withholding allowances means
that your employer will withhold the maximum amount of income taxes
from your paycheck.
Do not get that statement confused with 'you will pay more taxes'.
This is an important distinction.
Some people wind up writing a check (instead of receiving a refund)
to the IRS when the file their tax return at the end of the year.
This may be due to a number of reasons, which may include other
income from other sources or less than average itemized
deductions.
The reasons are irrelevant to this discussion, but some people
simply don't like "owing" at the end of the year. To most people, a
"refund" is much more preferable.
However, the basic premise of income taxes is that you pay toward
your final income tax liability throughout the year via payroll
deductions. Hopefully, you break even by the end of the
tax year and owe nothing.