Most employees have the power to put at least a couple hundred extra dollars in their paychecks each month, starting this month. Think of it as granting yourself a well-deserved do-it-yourself year-end bonus. The potential for workers to beef up their paychecks is abundantly clear in the latest IRS statistics acquired by Kiplinger. So far this year 103 million Americans have received refunds triggered by their 2006 tax returns. The average refund: $2,291.

To cut withholding, all you have to do is file a new W-4 form -- Employee's Withholding Allowance Certificate -- with your employer and increase the number of "allowances" you claim. Of course you can't just make up a number for your W-4. The IRS has a dense 19-page booklet with seven intimidating worksheets to guide you toward the proper number of allowances for your circumstances. The agency even offers a Web calculator to help. But it requires more than 30 entries.

To make things less painful, and to encourage workers to set their withholding situation straight, Kiplingers developed a simple, easy-to-use calculator. Just answer three questions and you'll find the answers on your 2006 return.

Labels: bonus, Financial How-To, IRS, Kiplinger, W-4