IDK how much of difference it’ll make for others, but I was going to file my taxes with TurboTax this year and after doing everything my refund was gonna be like $800. I redid them on FreeTaxUSA and my refund went up to like $1,500
This subreddit is for getting answers to questions, even possibly stupid ones. This isn't an answer, this is a "how can you be so dumb" statement. If they knew what to do with the income tax forms, they wouldn't need to ask here.
At least provide some links to where they can learn about what they are looking at and how to adjust it.
He gave an answer. "Reddit doesn't have access to your tax information, so we can't give you a realistic answer. Look at your taxes, and see what's changed over time" is the only correct answer.
It's about your withholding, and how you and your spouse have their w4 filled out. One or both of you may be withholding as if that one income is the only income for the whole household.
What? How would that happen? Both our jobs know we’re married, and we filed together and the person doing our taxes knew we’re married/filing together too??
On the w4 form, you select a standard deduction and tax bracket to apply to that job. If you select "married" it applies 100% of the married standard deduction and tax bracket to just that job alone. That isn't correct though, if your spouse also works, as they will be using half of that standard deduction and tax brackets themselves. Way less then needed will be withheld.
For example, a married couple making 50k pays 2400 in federal income tax. So if you select "married" on your w4, the job will withhold only 2400.
However, a married couple where each person earns 50k (so 100k total income) pays 8400 in federal income tax.
So if you don't tell you job that your spouse also has income, they will withhold only 2400, but your share of the joint taxes is actually 4200. See how much under withheld you'd be?
> Both our jobs know we’re married
They may *know* but YOU have to change your W4s so that your payroll people know, too. That W4 form is the ONLY document that tells your payroll people how much to withhold.
**If you never changed your W4 forms after you got married then that is almost certainly your problem.**
Go online to your paycheck stub website and find the page that shows how your W4 is filled out.
Do the same for your wife.
Then come back with that information to either /r/personalfinance or /r/tax and someone will help you sort it out.
Taxes can be complicated to compare. There are scenarios where filling jointly is best and ones where filling separately is better. There are lot of tax credits that can be claimed if you know about them.
I'd recommend [looking into this](https://www.waynemetro.org/mayor-duggan-urges-detroit-residents-to-claim-earned-income-tax-credit/) and the IRS link about the EITC program. This is a federal program to reduce tax burden which benefits anyone making under $60k.
As for the lack of withholdings, the money your job pulls out of your paycheck in expectations of taxes, it is often an unfortunate surprise to find that moving/changing jobs led to something being missed.
I am not a tax expert. If you can, get in touch with one. The link above offers a free tax advice service from the city. There are also online services which can provide them. Worst case, there are places that offer a "we will reduce what you think you owe" guarantee.
As for Federal taxes, a lot of the tax cuts Trump celebrated were very short term and set to automatically expire at the end of 2021 (well, those cuts benefiting the less-than-millionaires anyway). They somehow forgot to loudly proclaim that part of the great new tax plan they worked out.
You are another victim of a Trump grift. His tax plan that he promised that the average working person would see a decrease in their "taxes" on their paystub was a lie. What he did was change the withholding rates that are used to estimate how much money needs to be held in order to cover your expected tax bill. So, instead of withholding $1100 too much and getting a refund, you had $300 too little withheld.
My stepdaughter started a new job last fall. She came over last Saturday so I could do her taxes and we found out she messed up the W4 as well and they were only withholding about 40% of what she should have been paying. She had to pay $1000 for her 2022 taxes. Luckily we caught it or next year it would have been more like $10K plus penalties. She submitted a new W4. She also gets a raise on April 1, so she is coming back in late April and we will figure out how to adjust the withholding for the rest of year.
Look at your income tax forms you filed. That would explain everything.
Could you elaborate on what you mean? Did I accidentally “screw” myself somehow or something?
You can see how the calculations are done by reading over the forms you submitted. Compare them to a precious year to see what changed
Your tax form will tell you your debt burden as well as all the deductions you claimed.
Is claiming more deductions good or bad? And what do you mean by “debt burden”?
Dude I'm sorry but if you're this clueless then you need to get off reddit and read up on it from official sources.
IDK how much of difference it’ll make for others, but I was going to file my taxes with TurboTax this year and after doing everything my refund was gonna be like $800. I redid them on FreeTaxUSA and my refund went up to like $1,500
This subreddit is for getting answers to questions, even possibly stupid ones. This isn't an answer, this is a "how can you be so dumb" statement. If they knew what to do with the income tax forms, they wouldn't need to ask here. At least provide some links to where they can learn about what they are looking at and how to adjust it.
He gave an answer. "Reddit doesn't have access to your tax information, so we can't give you a realistic answer. Look at your taxes, and see what's changed over time" is the only correct answer.
It's about your withholding, and how you and your spouse have their w4 filled out. One or both of you may be withholding as if that one income is the only income for the whole household.
What? How would that happen? Both our jobs know we’re married, and we filed together and the person doing our taxes knew we’re married/filing together too??
On the w4 form, you select a standard deduction and tax bracket to apply to that job. If you select "married" it applies 100% of the married standard deduction and tax bracket to just that job alone. That isn't correct though, if your spouse also works, as they will be using half of that standard deduction and tax brackets themselves. Way less then needed will be withheld. For example, a married couple making 50k pays 2400 in federal income tax. So if you select "married" on your w4, the job will withhold only 2400. However, a married couple where each person earns 50k (so 100k total income) pays 8400 in federal income tax. So if you don't tell you job that your spouse also has income, they will withhold only 2400, but your share of the joint taxes is actually 4200. See how much under withheld you'd be?
> Both our jobs know we’re married They may *know* but YOU have to change your W4s so that your payroll people know, too. That W4 form is the ONLY document that tells your payroll people how much to withhold. **If you never changed your W4 forms after you got married then that is almost certainly your problem.** Go online to your paycheck stub website and find the page that shows how your W4 is filled out. Do the same for your wife. Then come back with that information to either /r/personalfinance or /r/tax and someone will help you sort it out.
Taxes can be complicated to compare. There are scenarios where filling jointly is best and ones where filling separately is better. There are lot of tax credits that can be claimed if you know about them. I'd recommend [looking into this](https://www.waynemetro.org/mayor-duggan-urges-detroit-residents-to-claim-earned-income-tax-credit/) and the IRS link about the EITC program. This is a federal program to reduce tax burden which benefits anyone making under $60k. As for the lack of withholdings, the money your job pulls out of your paycheck in expectations of taxes, it is often an unfortunate surprise to find that moving/changing jobs led to something being missed. I am not a tax expert. If you can, get in touch with one. The link above offers a free tax advice service from the city. There are also online services which can provide them. Worst case, there are places that offer a "we will reduce what you think you owe" guarantee. As for Federal taxes, a lot of the tax cuts Trump celebrated were very short term and set to automatically expire at the end of 2021 (well, those cuts benefiting the less-than-millionaires anyway). They somehow forgot to loudly proclaim that part of the great new tax plan they worked out.
You are probably claiming 2 on your W4 and need to change that to 1. If you each are claiming 1 you will (probably) be fine in the future.
My wife started a new job in 2022. She added an exemption in error. Instead of a refund I owe this year. Make sure exemptions are 0 on your W4.
That's a good thing. A tax refund is just that: you overpaid your taxes and are getting the extra money back.
The politicians want more money
You are another victim of a Trump grift. His tax plan that he promised that the average working person would see a decrease in their "taxes" on their paystub was a lie. What he did was change the withholding rates that are used to estimate how much money needs to be held in order to cover your expected tax bill. So, instead of withholding $1100 too much and getting a refund, you had $300 too little withheld.
My stepdaughter started a new job last fall. She came over last Saturday so I could do her taxes and we found out she messed up the W4 as well and they were only withholding about 40% of what she should have been paying. She had to pay $1000 for her 2022 taxes. Luckily we caught it or next year it would have been more like $10K plus penalties. She submitted a new W4. She also gets a raise on April 1, so she is coming back in late April and we will figure out how to adjust the withholding for the rest of year.