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bz5
Returning Member

Estimated Taxes for 2020

I prepare an estimate at the end of the year to cover investment earnings. Can someone tell me why Turbotax (desktop) asks for estimated Federal Withholdings twice? It asks at the beginning of the interview when it asks for wages and then again at the very end. When I only enter it once, the estimate seems really high. When I enter it twice (same answer) it says no payment needed.  

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BarbL
Employee Tax Expert

Estimated Taxes for 2020

In the beginning of the interview, the software asks how much tax you paid through your W-2, and at the end it asks about the amount(s) you paid in total, which includes any estimated tax payments that you made throughout the year, directly to the IRS.  Sometimes you need to make estimated tax payments if you come up short, and that is what the system looks for.  Without looking at your tax return, it seems that for 2020, you might come up "short" with the taxes withheld from your wages alone, but if you had added more (as described above) then the system knows you paid enough, and it says you owe nothing.   TurboTax automatically calculates estimated tax based on information that you provide. 

 

In TurboTax desktop, take a look at the specific sections at the beginning and at the end.  If it is  W-2 income as well as investment income, these are two separate types of income that have different withholding information.  

 

Who is Subject to Estimated Taxes?

 

In the United States, we have a “pay as you go” tax system. That means that the government expects to receive most of your taxes throughout the year. Because of this, employees have a certain amount of taxes automatically withheld from their paychecks. On the other hand, if you are self-employed as a freelancer, contractor, or home-based entrepreneur, you most likely don’t have taxes withheld from your pay throughout the year and are instead subject to quarterly estimated taxes. In general, you are expected to pay estimated taxes if you expect to owe $1,000 or more annually for your taxes.

 

Here is an article that explains estimated taxes in further detail.

 

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