Question

Use the following federal tax table for biweekly gross earnings of a single person to help answer the question below.
A 9-column table with 7 rows is shown. Column 1 is labeled If the wages are at least with entries 720, 740, 760, 780, 800, 820, 840. Column 2 is labeled But less than with entries 740, 760, 780, 800, 820, 840, 860. Column 3 is labeled And the number of withholding allowances is 0, the amount of income tax withheld is, with entries 80, 83, 86, 89, 92, 95, 98. Column 4 is labeled And the number of withholding allowances is 1, the amount of income tax withheld is, with entries 62, 65, 68, 71, 74, 77, 80. Column 5 is labeled And the number of withholding allowances is 2, the amount of income tax withheld is, with entries 44, 47, 50, 53, 56, 59, 62. Column 6 is labeled And the number of withholding allowances is 3, the amount of income tax withheld is, with entries 26, 28, 31, 34, 37, 40, 43. Column 7 is labeled And the number of withholding allowances is 4, the amount of income tax withheld is, with entries 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26. Column 8 is labeled And the number of withholding allowances is 5, the amount of income tax withheld is, with entries 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13. Column 9 is labeled And the number of withholding allowances is 6, the amount of income tax withheld is, with entries 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1.
Molly has biweekly gross earnings of $839.52. By claiming 1 more withholding allowance, Molly would have $16 more in her take home pay. How many withholding allowances does Molly currently claim?
a.
1
b.
2
c.
3
d.
4

Answer 1

839.52 falls in the 820–840 row. The tax withheld there by allowances 0–6 is: 95, 77, 59, 40, 24, 11, 0.
The decrease when claiming one more allowance is: 95→77 (18), 77→59 (18), 59→40 (19), 40→24 (16), 24→11 (13), 11→0 (11).
Only going from 3 to 4 allowances reduces tax by $16, so Molly currently claims 3 allowances.

Answer: c.