Single or married with dependents?

Does your spouse work? How much money did you get back this year?

If not, then you are probably safe claiming Married w/3.

If you are really worried about it change to Married w/1 and see what happens next year.

They're called allowances on your W-4, not dependents, because there are various reasons other than dependents that would let you up the number.

If you're getting a big refund now, you might as well make the change so it gets spread out over your paychecks rather than not having your money all year, then getting it at the end. Unless you have a house or something else that gives you lots of deductions, you'd probably be safer to go with married one allowance for a year and see how it works out. If next year you still get a refund, increase it to married two allowances. It also matters whether your wife works - if she does, married 3 or even 2 could have you owing at the end.

Gem is on the right track. You have to know what your spouse is claiming before you change anything. You might find it helpful to print a couple of W-4's off the irs website (www.irs.gov). The link is on the left hand side of the home page. Read all the instructions and work through each of them steadily. You should then get to the best answer reasonably painlessly.

You should be fine claiming the proper amount as long as you are the only one who is working. If your wife also works she should claim 0 and withhold at the higher single rate.

Married with one sounds more logical to me.