Any W 2 actually employment , as opposed to 1099 contractortemp job should give you a W 4 form when you first start out that asks for your info and number of dependents , essentially trying to determine how much you ' ll likely owe in tax . Your employer uses this form combined with your pay level to remit payments to the US Gov on your behalf all year , because they both know people are terrible at saving . If you ' re working a 40 hour a week gig that pays $ 10 an hour , your gross for the year assuming 52 weeks a year is about $ 20 , 800 . If it ' s just you that you ' re supporting on that , you ' ll likely owe a little bit throughout the year , and get some back at tax time . However , if you list that you have like 56 dependents on your W 4 , you ' ll have almost nothing withheld , because you ' ll be able to claim that many people as credits and deductions in April . It ' s risky to claim more dependents than you actually have and outright tax fraud to attempt to actually take those credits if you aren ' t certain you ' ll have the cash to pay at tax time , and the IRS can charge you interest if you owe them more than $ 1000 you ' re supposed to file quarterly if you do . Better to shoot for as close to zero with a small amount owed . Source Too many tax classes !