woohoo

[mamajoan]

I don't think I mentioned that when I started back to work, it occurred to me to change my W-4 (tax form that tells the gov't/employer how much to withhold from your paycheck) to reflect my new little deduction. ;) So I filed a new W-4 for federal, and the equivalent state form as well. In doing so, I discovered that I can now file my taxes as "head of household." To qualify, you have to (among other things) have had a dependent living with you for at least half the year. So if Isaac had been born when he was supposed to, I wouldn't qualify, but since he was early, I do. Yay!

Anyway, today was my first paycheck with the new withholdings, and it was about $100 bigger than usual. Since I get paid twice a month, this means I'm getting an extra $200/month. Double yay! It makes me wish I'd thought to do this earlier! Of course, I should get that other money back next year when I file my tax return.

The extra cash makes me want to revisit the idea of buying a new car -- which could be a whole nother very long post, but Isaac's crying, so I'll just say that my current car is looking less and less reliable and convenient now that I have the baby, and I'm drooling over the idea of having power door-locks and power windows. Sigh. Anyway, more later, gotta run....

Comments

[mogwar.livejournal.com]

(Friendly note for future reference if it ever comes up again: the rule about having a dependant for half the year to claim head of household only counts when the dependant is alive for the entire year. If the dependant isn't alive for the entire year, you can claim HoH as long as you can claim the dependant for at least half his/her life. For instance, as my son's father and I were not married the year he was born, I claimed HoH and claimed the kid that year, even though the kid wasn't born until December and thus only lived with me for about three weeks that year. *smile*)