Exemptions to Claim With One Child

If you file a joint tax return, it does not matter if your wife works or not; you claim a personal exemption for yourself and one for your wife. In addition, assuming the child is under 24 (if he/she is a student), lives with you over half the year, and cannot provide more than one-half of his own support, then that would be another exemption. Total exemptions = 3

BTW, each exemption was worth $3,300 last year.

Thank you. So I understand exemptions help to get more cash out of paycheck. But will it worsen my tax return in the end of the year? Some say it is better to claim 0 and get more money back at the end of the year. How do exemption effect tax return? Note: the child is under 3 y.o. and it is a joint income tax.

Don't let the government hold your money all year and not pay you interest. It is better to owe the fed and state governments a little than for them to pay you a large refund. People often forget the time value of money. That is, a dollar in your pocket today is worth more than a dollar in your pocket tomorrow. Why? You have one day to make money with it. The three exemptions you should claim from your paycheck should balance with the three you claim on your income taxes.