98 hours this pay and $1000 taken off in taxes/pension

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Hi there: I am a new grad working in Ontario Canada. As the title of this post says, I got a whopping deduction on my latest pay check. What I am wondering is when is working overtime not worth it anymore due to taxes and other deductions? It seems the more you make the more gets taken off. How many hours approximately would you say is worth the money you actually bring home? I am thinking around 80 per 2 weeks...What do you think?

It would all depends on which tax category working overtime jumps you up to. I worked with an RN who one year was working as much overtime as they could handle so they could save for downpayment on a house. The following year he was forced to grab as much overtime as he could to try and pay the additional income taxes the government wanted for the first year he worked so much overtime. He learned the lesson, to work more can be a good thing, but in that case have additional taxes taken out, just in case you end up in the so called tax bracket from hell...lol:banghead:

it sounds like he ran into the AMT though i thought they had been "suspending" year to year.....if he did his own tax return and it has been less than 3 years he might want to have a pro go over it and see if it could be amended.....

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Specializes in O.R., ED, M/S.
I am comfortable with working 48 hours per week overtime, without being overly taxed.

Misquote? 48 hours PER WEEK! I think as an employeer that would be very un acceptable. Do you mean 8 hours OT? Many years ago I had figured that I could put in about 15 hours per pay period nefore taxes really hit. Now today everyone has to figure out the hours before it becomes meaningless. I work in the OR where OT is a given and other areas most, if not all employeers forbid any OT whatsoever. Plus the OP does get FREE health coverage, so they don't really have much to complain about.

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$1000 is alot of money. Even if you get free health insurance. I heard the trick to avoid major taxing on ones check was to not do over time at your regular job but to get the xtra money from a part time job. I am not sure if this actually works. Please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

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Specializes in Physical Rehabilitation, med-surg.

be thankful you have a pension. Lots of us nurses have nothing but what we put into an unmatched 401K now.

To answer your question, I can work 1 extra shift per 2 week pay period and see the biggest difference. More than that, you do make more money, of course, but you don't see it as much in your take-home.

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Specializes in ICU/ER.

This happended to me once before, I worked a boat load of OT and made about as much as I normally do because all they took out in taxes...I have personally found if I just pick up 1 extra 12 hour shift I am ok but anything over that one shift they take more out than I would have made extra----so here is what I have been known to do, perfectly legal according to my tax guy and in fact his suggestion.

The week you know your working alot of OT, change your exemptions, I normally file married/0 so on weeks I put in a ton of OT or maybe the few paychecks before Christmas or the car insurance is due I will change my exemptions to married/6. I only do it for a pay check here and there so they will continue over the year to take out the right amount to still give me a small refund ~~I know I am letting the govt keep my money but I still like getting a refund check in the spring to splurge on something fun~~

HR does not mind changing it, it is just a one page form, in fact our unit mgrs keep the forms in thier office for us so if we need to change during a pay period, and we work nights we dont have to come in during the day to fill it out, we can just fill it out and put it under payrolls door, as long as they have it the day they do payroll we are good.

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Specializes in ICU/Critical Care.

I wonder if I could file Single/1. At my last job, we could go right online to change the exemptions and when I worked over 20 hours of OT in a two week period, I increased my exemptions so they didn't take out a lot of taxes. It was wonderful to bring home a $2k check.

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Specializes in ER/Trauma.
I know this is probably a dumb question but dont they give it back to you at the end of the year when they see how much you made on average?
Yes they do - but remember, having the government take more money per paycheck than you need to simply means you're giving the government interest-free money for the tax year....

Instead of it staying in your pocket where it rightfully belongs! ;)

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Specializes in ICU/Critical Care.

Technically, can I claim head of household since I own my home? I was looking at my w4 form and from what I gather I can claim single/2.

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Specializes in psych. rehab nursing, float pool.

RoyFokker,

I agree with you yet. I stay single 0 for deductions, and never up my deductions during the payperiods. I have had years where I got back $2,000.00 I had years like last year where I only got back $500.00. It just all depends on how many deductions I have for the long term form at the end of the year. They keep cutting the amount we can deduct. such as medical. No declaring except that which is over such and such percentage of your income... sucks big time if you ask me. They keep raising the standard deduction. good in some respects if one does not own a home. If you do , but the interest is only a hair less than the standard, and no other deductions, well for me I do not want to end up having to paying the government come April.

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Specializes in psych. rehab nursing, float pool.
Technically, can I claim head of household since I own my home? I was looking at my w4 form and from what I gather I can claim single/2.

As long as you can claim another person as a dependent outside of yourself you can claim the single head of household.,,,, my dog doesn't count lol

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Specializes in ICU/Critical Care.
As long as you can claim another person as a dependent outside of yourself you can claim the single head of household.,,,, my dog doesn't count lol

Missed that part as I was reading the form. It says that I can claim one exemption for myself. Does it really make much of a difference if I do that?

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Specializes in psych. rehab nursing, float pool.

It just all depends on your individual circumstances. For myself, when my loved one who I am not married to had to retire and only live off his ss. We made the agreement due to my earnings I would take all the interest on our home loan the and property taxes, as he would be filing short form due to the significant reduction in his income.

I still claim single 0 on w4's. I know as long as I keep my earnings around 40,000.00 I am okay and will at least break even, perhaps like last year still get at least $500.00 back.. That prior year I had dental bills of 6,000.00 it why I got so much back, Made a huge difference for me. Best to talk to a tax preparer if you are not familiar with the tax codes, I do not have a complicated circumstances such as depreciations of rental property and such...Hence I do my own.

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