<prompt> Human: So my boss and I just discussed my severance pay that Im going to be getting next week and the amount its going to be. Then he told me that as a favor he can call our payroll company and have them cut me more than one check so that they dont take out higher taxes on the higher amount, i.e. a few smaller checks less taxes paid on all of it overall. Is this true? I dont understand how it could be, the total amount is going to be 5k. Hes suggesting two checks for 1500 and one check for 2000. Does this actually benefit me at all or does it benefit him?  <response>: It benefits you by having less taxes withheld immediately. although the difference should not be that bigYour total tax liability would not change, but you would have access to extra money right away, rather than waiting until April to get your tax refund. 