I have a summer job (3 months) that has a good pay. I will be earning around $17,000 in the 3 months, and according to the federal tax rates, I should pay about $850 as tax. In my W-4, I presently claimed 3 allowances, all of which apply to me (I am a single, by the way). However, I had $410 federal tax withheld from my first paycheck of $2,700. That is almost half of the total that I will need to pay! I understand that they calculated for the entire year as opposed to 3 months, in which case the withheld amount is okay. Is there any way to reduce the withholding legally (I don't want to get into any trouble being a foreign citizen!)? What about increasing number of allowances; can it be done, and up to how many if so? Help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks