# Math Help - Income taxes?

1. ## Income taxes?

How do you figure out how to find taxes withheld?

The explanation I was given- For 2009, the US government amount for one withholding allowance on a biweekly paycheck is $140.38; additional allowances are the same amount#. Find the taxes withheld from a biweekly check for each of the following single US taxpayers in 2009. Amounts are annual salaries. One of the taxpayers- (i) A firefighter who makes$46,380 (three withholding allowances)

I'm not sure how I would go about doing this.
& are withholding allowances the taxes withheld?

(Sorry if this is the wrong section, wasn't sure where to put it)

2. Originally Posted by lissakay
How do you figure out how to find taxes withheld?

The explanation I was given- For 2009, the US government amount for one withholding allowance on a biweekly paycheck is $140.38; additional allowances are the same amount#. Find the taxes withheld from a biweekly check for each of the following single US taxpayers in 2009. Amounts are annual salaries. One of the taxpayers- (i) A firefighter who makes$46,380 (three withholding allowances)

I'm not sure how I would go about doing this.
& are withholding allowances the taxes withheld?

(Sorry if this is the wrong section, wasn't sure where to put it)
No, "withholding allowances" are not the taxes withheld. They are deductions from salary for "dependents"- yourself, your wife, any children- before taxes are computed.

Since the amount withheld is a rather complicated function of the amount earned each pay period, there is not enough information here to answer the question. Is there any sort of "tax table" given?

3. It's hard to tell whether this is meant to be a hypothetical question, or if it's a true question about how withholding is calculated on your pay check. If the latter - your employer follows IRS rules per Publication 15. The amount of withholding depends on (a) bi-weely pay amount, (b) number of allowances claimed, and (c) marital status. For a single person paid biweely with an annual salary of $46,380 ($1783.85 per bi-weekly payroll period), and claiming 3 allowances from Pub 15 the amount withheld would be $174.28 per biweekly pay period using the percentage method (per table 2 on page 38), or$176.00 using the wage bracket table on page 45.

I suggest that if you have follow up question on how taxes are truly calculated, post your questions here: Taxes - Ask Me Help Desk as oposed to this Math Hep Forum - that's where the tax experts hang out to answer questions.