Find solution
What are the taxes to comply with preschool?

My employer hardly withheld any federal taxes, now I owe a whole lot. Im in college, what do I do?

  • Hello, I'm 20 years old and in college working a part time job for a national company (I don't want to say their name in case they're watching me...) I think they've done something wrong with my withholding and now I owe a lot of money on my taxes. First of all, I make anywhere from $250 to $450 net pay ($350 average) every two weeks. My 2009 gross income was 10,500. I only worked for this company for 4 months in 2008, and wound up with a $100 return. This year, however, they did something different. This is how they withheld my taxes: 1/09/09 - $523 Gross, $68 Taxes, Federal Withheld: $14.11 1/23/09 - $380 Gross, $38 Taxes, Federal Withheld: $0.00 2/06/09 - $413 Gross, $44 Taxes, Federal Withheld: $3.05 2/20/09 - $393 Gross, $41 Taxes, Federal Withheld: $1.10 3/06/09 - $482 Gross, $59 Taxes, Federal Withheld: $10.00 3/20/09 - $507 Gross, $64 Taxes, Federal Withheld: $12.52 Every other day of the year federal withheld: 0.00 Now I owe $442 to the IRS, and $50 to my state. They did withhold $650 for Social Security, and also $152 for Medicare But why did they stop withholding my taxes? $442 is a lot of money for me!!! Are they at fault? Should they be responsible for fixing this? Or did I do something wrong when I set up my withholding when I first got hired in October 2008? But if that was the case, then why did I get a return for 2008? My withholding is set up like this: Status: Single, Allowances: 2, Additional Withholding: 0 I am claimed as a dependent by my parents. But even if I wasn't, I'd still owe something like $70. Any help is appreciated, thanks!

  • Answer:

    If you didn't have enough withheld, then you have to pay the difference. That's the simple truth. You are responsible - not the employer. Why are you claiming 2 allowances when you are single and a dependent of your parents? That is your mistake which resulted in too little withholding. Change your W-4.

Alex D at Yahoo! Answers Visit the source

Was this solution helpful to you?

Other answers

So set up a payment plan. You missed the news that dependents didn't get the Making Work Pay credit, so when they changed the withholding taxes to withhold $400 less, you should have been asking them to withhold that much more.

Quick Answers

If you owe alot of money to the IRS and you cant pay them, I know you can set up some kinda payment plan with them, or you can put it on the credit card...

Scooby

You probably did something wrong. The reason that you still received some money for 2008 was that you worked for only three months and therefore did not make enough money to owe any income tax.

StephenWeinstein

how many did u claim at the beginning and end of the year?

jill_a_pill

The withholding is correct for each check but your withholding status is incorrect. Since you are a dependent, you should have been set up as: Single, Allowances 0. As a dependent, you do not get to claim yourself on your taxes. Your parents get your exemption when they claim you on their taxes. Also, in the spring of 2009, the Making Work Pay Credit was introduced. This changed the tax tables so $400 less was withheld from paychecks. This corresponds with $0 federal being withheld after 3/20/09. (Instead of getting a $400 credit when you filed your taxes, you get a little bit in each check.) But, as a dependent, you don't qualify for the credit so the lower tax tables actually cause you to owe that $400 now. Your employer is not at fault and is not responsible for fixing this. You need to submit a new W-4 form to your employer setting yourself to Single, 0 allowances.

TaxGurl

You cannot file a return if you are a dependent on your parents' return. That is probably why you owe taxes and your claiming 2 exemptions, for what? They disallowed your original tax withholding amount because you did not pay enough tax. You cannot be independent and file a return at the same time as you are their dependent on their tax return. You can get into a lot of trouble.

Flower

First you should have 0 allowances or possibly 1 at the most, I would recommend 0. This is the reason why you have so little tax taken out. Ask your parents for help since they derived the biggest benefit of claiming you on their taxes, which also reduced the amount of exemption you could take for yourself, thereby increasing your taxable income.

artthouwill

Related Q & A:

Just Added Q & A:

Find solution

For every problem there is a solution! Proved by Solucija.

  • Got an issue and looking for advice?

  • Ask Solucija to search every corner of the Web for help.

  • Get workable solutions and helpful tips in a moment.

Just ask Solucija about an issue you face and immediately get a list of ready solutions, answers and tips from other Internet users. We always provide the most suitable and complete answer to your question at the top, along with a few good alternatives below.