Am I overthinking my W4 with a job/pay rate change?
Hello r/tax,
I recently accepted a management job that will see me lose my OT earnings ability. When I started this job 13 years ago I was fine with my status being “married but withholding at the single rate” and claiming zero deductions even though I have 2 kids (10 & 11yrs old if it matters). My wife works so I know to click the “higher withholdings box” and add her pay info as an additional W2 when filling the form out as well as multiplying my 2 dependents by the $2k in the appropriate section.
I took a management job which will reduce my income a fairly significant amount as of 5/11/26 due to losing my ability to work OT (I made quite a lot with OT from 1/1/26-5/10/26). I would like to file a W4 and correct my withholdings so I am no longer giving the government an approximately $10-12k interest free loan every year.
Going forward I’d would still like to see a $3k return each year so I can have a small chunk of change put aside as I adjust to this new income (I’m aware the majority of people may disagree with this but it’s what I would prefer).
Does the mid-year income change have an affect on what I put in my W4 at all or do I just wait to receive my first paycheck of the new earnings then fill out a W4 based on those numbers? Am I correct to assume my former withholding status will still result in me overpaying taxes for 2026 and I’ll still need to fill out a new W4 at the end of December? If I’d prefer to receive an approximate refund of $3k is it as easy as dividing $3k by 26 pay periods and inputting $115 in the additional withholding box?
Sorry if any of this is hard to follow or doesn’t make sense, I’m worried I’ll somehow screw this up and end up owing the IRS somehow. Thank you for any help anyone is able to give!