How many deductions can you legally claim on your w4 form If you actually have only you, your wife and 1 child

you can claim as many as you want as long as it does not cause the taxes withheld by your employer to cause less than 80% of the taxs you will owe at the end of the year to be withheld. If you withhold too much, the IRS will make you pay a penalty.

I have a wife and 3 kids but claim 9 dependents because I have many other itemized deductions that decrease my taxable income relative to my gross income.

You can claim as many as you want on your W4. You'll just have less deductions in taxes. It's just at the end of the year when you do your taxes that you might have to pay in. But then you can claim head of household along with yourself , wife and kids.

On your W-4 you can legally claim any number you want, but on your 1040 you can only claim 3. The more money you want to receive at the end of the year (or less taxes you want to pay at the end of the year) the lower number you should claim. (If you want the most back/pay the least at the end of the year, claim 0.)

The W-4 has worksheets that you can fill out to calculate your number of allowances. There are 3 different worksheets. You need to choose the one that best fits your situation. You can claim less than the worksheet calculates to. You cannot claim more allowances than the worksheet shows.