Quote Originally Posted by CavSct1983 View Post
For me, following the directions put me at 6 allowances. So I put that, thinking, "Directions say to do this." Previous year I'd apparently fallen in a weird area where I got a refund, having not made enough. This year, with the new job, I made too much to be in that space and got totally hammered. I have since reduced my allowances to 3.
W4 directions are crap.

I run a mock 1040 in Excel as the year drags on and adjust as necessary. My goal is to owe an amount I'm comfortable paying the next year but never more than 10% of the tax to avoid the extra little penalty. This year I owe about 2.5% of my Fed and about 4% of my state. Put the checks in the mail this morning.