How do I handle my state taxes?

Why is my employer not witholding enough taxes when i claim 0 on my w4?

• my employer doesn't seem to be taking the correct taxes out of my check. for the first few months i worked at my job they did. ($130 for the first 3 months withheld for state taxes) but now for the full 12 months of 2011 they withheld only $103, for the FULL year! also i noticed after going back over my pay stubs (which they had stopped mailing and I had to request copies of and weren't getting currently as I was being paid) that the federal withholdings were unusually low as well, sometimes only totalling 60 cents. granted i only work 30 hours a week give or take at $9 an hour BUT i have been in this bracket a few years now and never had this problem before. when i asked about it i was told i was "probably not making enough to be taxed". well, i wish someone would tell that to the state because they sure saw it differently and we just paid them $620 in taxes. taxes that i wanted deducted from my check DURING the year. that is precisely why my husband and I claimed 0 so they will take taxes out throughout the year and we won't be hit owing several hundred at the end. also, they told me i would need to resubmit my w4 to make sure i am claiming zero. but zero is still zero and that's what is on my w4 and my w2. they told me i should request an additional flat amount withheld each check but i wouldn't know what to take out additionally as it is normally based on your earnings and they usually just withhold a percentage of that. since my hours fluctuate i don't necessarily want a flat amount held out each check. if this is true that i don't earn enough to be taxed, why was i then still taxed at the end of the year by the state? and why were they withholding so much more the first year i worked there. i can't get a straight answer from anyone at corporate. someone is supposed to return my call to explain it to me (i've been bumped around to 3 people already who sound like they don't understand the way it works themselves and don't sound fully convinced of what they are attempting to explain to me.) i would like a better understanding of it so i know how to handle myself and what action to take when i speak to the next person at payroll about this. i am at a loss and very frustrated as is my husband. thanks in advance -emily

• Answer:

  When you both each do claim married on your W-4 form you will usually end up failing to have enough income taxes withheld from your gross pay during the tax year because you are each one getting the reduced withholding amounts for the MFJ amounts that would be free of the income taxes when you complete your MFJ 1040 income tax return. When you are only eligible for the one MFJ amount during the tax year filing season for the years 1040 income tax return. And make sure that you also take care of the state withholding form also for this purpose. OK for a start each one of you should just take a W-4 form for the FIT withholding amounts and just claim Married BUT withhold at the single tax rate and also claim -0-ZERO Allowances for this purpose and time in your life sign the completed W-4 and return it to your employer and then also do the same thing for the state income tax withholding form to try and make sure that the payroll department does get it correct for your withholding for your FIT and also for your state income tax advance estimated tax payments for the tax year. And give them enough time to start the new withholding amounts and look at them and do some estimated tax calculations during the tax year to try and see what the numbers might look like during the next years tax filing season. And then if you find it necessary to do so you could then choose to have some additional $ amounts withheld out of each GROSS pay period before they would issue out to you your NET take home pay check and your wife could also do this. Hope that you find the above enclosed information useful. 05/09/2012