How do I reduce my tax return?

I recieved a huge tax return this yr. 5 digits. while the amount is like a yearly bonus, i would like to consider reducing the return. I am already claiming 8 and could claim more but heard that more would be a red flag to the irs. I work sales so my income fluctuate drastically month to month. Can I jsut claim 8 half the yr until I get about 7-8K paid in and then file exempt for the rest of the yr? any other ideas?

Well, you certainly can't claim exempt because you do have a tax liability. (Has nothing to do with your tax refund, simply that you had taxable income.)

If you are legally entitled to claim a higher number of withholding allowances, you shouldn't be concerned about raising a "red flag" to the IRS.

As long as you aren't doing any of these things, you shouldn't worry about claiming the the number of allowances that you're entitled to:
- you have no reasonable basis for claimed allowances at the time you prepare your Form W-4.
- willfully supplying false or fraudulent information on your Form W-4
- willfully failing to supply information that would increase the amount withheld.
- deliberately and knowingly falsifying your Form W-4 in an attempt to reduce or eliminate the proper withholding of taxes.

If you're doing things right, go for it.

You cannot flip to "exempt" because you aren't.

You can bump the 8 higher...or talk to your payroll department to find out why they don't just take a flat 25% out of commission checks.

No, you can't claim exempt if you aren't, but you can claim more than 8.