<prompt> Human: I am paid 12.50hr and always work 40 hours a week, so pre-tax my pay is 1,000 per two weeks. My paychecks are always 800. Is it normal to get 20 taken out? It seems high. Im in WA state and a single independent. If this is the correct amount to get taken out, how much can I expect back in a tax return?Assistant: WA has no state income tax, so youre paying:76.50check for social security and medicare taxes 6.2 for social security, 1.45 for medicare. This means the remainder of 123.50 thats taken out is being applied to federal income taxes assuming you have no other paycheck deductions like 401k contributions or health insurance premiums.123.50 1000 12.35 tax rate. It looks like youre having a bit too much withheld: This page has 2014 tax rate info 12.50 40 hoursweek 52 weeksyear 26,000 annualized income 2014 standard deduction 6,200 and personal exemption 3,150 total to 10,150, bringing your taxable income down to 15,850. This puts you in the 15 tax bracket. The first 9,075 is taxed at 10, and the remaining 6,775 at 15. So, your total tax liability will be 1,923.75. If youre having 123.50 withheld every two weeks, youll have 123.50 26 3,211 withheld in total. If all of these numbers are accurate, youll be owed 1,287.25 when you do your taxes.Since it looks like youre having too much withheld, youll want to increase the number of exemptions on your W4. What are you currently claiming? Also, keep in mind this does not take into account any other income you might have. If this is the correct amount to get taken out, how much can I expect back in a tax return?If you have exactly the correct amount withheld from your paychecks, you get 0 refund. The whole point of a refund is to refund any overpayment in taxes.Human: Thank you for laying that out clearly for me. I claimed 1 I am a single person with one job and cannot be claimed by anyone else when I started the job and filled out my hiring paperwork. As far as I know this is all I can claim?  <response>: Have a look at the W-4 from the irs website You should have 1 for line A and 1 for line B, so your correct number, by the IRSs own form, would be 2. I have been claiming 2, as a single person with no dependents, for the last 20 years. I generally still end up with a small refund. 