The Internal Revenue Service requires your employer to withhold a specified amount from your paycheck for federal income tax purposes. The government uses this money to support its various services and agencies. Tax tables provide the exact amount that should be deducted from your paycheck based on your income, your marital status, and your withholding allowances, which are exemptions you claim based on the number of people you support.

Example

Find the federal income tax withheld.
Mariano Denunzio is single and claims 1 exemption for himself. If his gross pay for the week is $512.50, what amount will be withheld from Denunzio’s paycheck for federal income tax?

1. Find his income range on the Single Persons tax table (see page 170). Denunzio earns between $510 and $520.
2. Find the column for 1 allowance.
3. The amount of federal income tax withheld is $54.

Practice

Using the Single Persons—Weekly table (see page 170), find the amount withheld for federal income tax.

1. Weekly income: $478.77; 4 allowances.
2. Weekly income: $394.74; 1 allowance.

Using the Married Persons—Weekly table (see page 172), find the amount withheld for federal income tax.

3. Weekly income: $615.88; 3 allowances.
4. Weekly income: $521.37; 2 allowances.

Use the Weekly Payroll Period tax tables on pages 170–173 to solve the problems.

5. Sal Carpenter is married, earns $428.95 per week, and claims 2 allowances—1 for himself and 1 for his wife. Find the amount withheld for federal income tax.

6. Jacinda Maris is a single mother who claims 3 allowances—1 for herself and 1 for each of her two children. She earns $491.00 per week. Find the amount withheld from her paycheck for federal income tax.

7. Sandra Brown is married. Last year, she claimed 2 allowances, but since her husband now claims her on his paycheck, she claims none. If her gross weekly income is $338.79, how much more is now withheld from her weekly paycheck by claiming no allowances?

8. Standardized Test Practice: Lucinda Marks is single and earns $177.50 per week. She can claim 1 allowance, but likes to get a large tax refund at the end of the year, so she opts instead to claim no allowances. What is the amount withheld from her paycheck for federal income tax?
A. $12        B. $13        C. $7        D. $6

 

(source) – edited for correctness