12 KIPLINGER’S PERSONAL FINANCE^ 05/AHEADTAX ZENHOW TO RIGHT SIZE
NEXT YEAR’S REFUND
Adjust your W-4 form to avoid an unpleasant
surprise when you file your 2019 return.THE 2018 TAX SEASON IS
over, and a lot of taxpayers
are not happy. Thanks to
the tax overhaul, some got
smaller refunds than they
received in the past, and
others were hit with an un-
expected tax bill. The rea-
son: In 2018, the IRS ad-
justed the tables employers
use to withhold taxes from
workers’ paychecks. Many
people had less taken out
but didn’t notice the modest
increase in their pay.
If you’d like to have more
(or less) withheld in 2019,
here’s what you need to do:Step 1: Gather your documents.
You’ll need your most recent
pay stubs and your 2018 in-
come tax return.Step 2: Estimate your 2019 tax
liability. Go to http://www.irs.gov
and type “withholding cal-
culator” in the search bar.
The calculator will first ask
you about your 2019 filing
status, such as single or
married. Then you’ll be
prompted to fill in informa-
tion about tax credits, your
expected income for the
year and contributions to
tax-deferred retirement ac-
counts, such as a 401(k).
The calculator will estimate
your tax liability and how
much will likely be with-
held in taxes.Step 3: Adjust withholding.
If the amount withheld
from your paychecks is
more than your tax liability,you will get a refund when
you file your 2019 return. If
the opposite is true, you’ll
get a tax bill. The withhold-
ing calculator will suggest
how to adjust your allow-
ances to change the result.
Each allowance is worth
$4,200 for tax year 2019;
the more allowances you
claim, the less money will
be withheld.Step 4: Fill out a new W-4.
Print out a W-4 form at
http://www.irs.gov (type “W-4”
in the search bar), and write
in the number of allowances
you want to claim on line 5.
If you have side income or
other circumstances that
could trigger a big tax bill,
you may want to have addi-
tional money withheld. Go
to line 6 and write in the
dollar amount you want
taken out of each paycheck.
RIVAN STINSONWAT CH F O R
STUDENT
LOAN
ERRORS
LENDER LAPSESIf you’re paying off student
debt, you may not be able
to rely on the company that
manages your loan to help you
select the best repayment op-
tion—or even give you accu-
rate information about how
much you owe.
A recent report by the U.S.
Department of Education’s
Office of Inspector General
found that the companies the
department pays to manage
and collect payments on fed-
eral student loans—known as
loan servicers—failed to pro-
vide borrowers with accurate
information about repayment
options. Some also miscalcu-
lated payment amounts for
borrowers.
Borrowers should keep
track of the balance, payment
history, loan servicer and re-
payment status for each loan.
Before consolidating federal
student loans or switching
repayment plans, visit www
.studentaid.ed.gov/sa/repay-
loans/understand/plans to
confirm information you’ve re-
ceived from your loan servicer.
If you find an error or have
other problems with your loan
servicer, file a complaint on its
website. If you don’t get a re-
sponse, file a complaint with
the Department of Education
at https://feedback.student
aid.ed.gov. Depending on
where you live, you may also
be able to get help from a
state student loan ombuds-
man. KAITLIN PITSKER
Remember,^ the^
more^ allowances^
claimed,^ the^ less^ tax
you’ll^ have^ withheld.