For the last 6 years or so, I've had refunds every year between $4000 and $7000. I figured it was time to decrease my withholding since I could use the extra money each paycheck and not give Uncle Sam an interest free loan every year.

I went and tried several of the tax exemption calculators on the net and each one of them tells me to use what I already have on my W4 which is 12 exemptions. Here are the questions:

1. Since the calculators aren't helping is there anyway to figure out how many exemptions I should put on my W4 without putting too many and having too little tax withheld? For example, if I put 14 down, how do I know how that affects my paycheck and tax withholding?

2. Will I raise red flags in the halls of the IRS if I put more than what their worksheet tells me I should put? Is there a magical number that sounds alarms bells off and notifies men in black coats?

Hope someone can help.
-Mark

That sure is a lot for a tax refund. You should claim the number of dependents you actually have.

The IRS calculator is pretty good.