My employer didn't withhold FICA taxes from paycheck for 2021 (return already filed).Can I check if TurboTax fixed(by accounting for it in the return) it in my return?

[vthottat]

I found out recently that my employer did not withhold FICA taxes for me for the year 2021. I used TurboTax to file my return for 2021 and used the W2 that my company gave me. In that W2, you could see that FICA taxes were not withheld. Now, I just wanted to check if TurboTax software caught that issue and fixed it my deducting those taxes from me in the return? I would expect TurboTax to inform me of this mistake and fix it for me. How can I check (by looking at my return from 2021) if it was done? I would really appreciate your help.

[xmasbaby0]

Why would TurboTax "fix" something that was entered on the W-2 that your employer issued to you and that the employer reported to the IRS?   TurboTax does not change the information that you entered.   If you had no Social Security or Medicare deducted from your wages, then that is what was reported to the IRS---both on your W-2 and by the employer.  TurboTax cannot change it and say you had SS or Medicare deducted.

[Opus 17]

There are some rare cases where it is correct for an employer not to withhold social security or medicare tax, so Turbotax can only nag you "are you sure this is correct?", it can't force you to pay the tax.

What type of work do you do?  Is it possible you are legitimately exempt?

If you are not exempt, you need to include form SS-8 with your tax return to pay the uncollected 7.65% social security and medicare tax.  Since you already filed, you need to wait until your return is fully processed and any refund paid, then you can prepare an amended return.  (Also, the amending function is not yet turned on in Turbotax.)

[vthottat]

Thanks for the response. However, I would imagine that TurboTax would at least inform me of this issue (it is a big amount). I give TurboTax all information it needs to figure out that I should not have got an exemption and I should have paid those taxes.  Unless I'm exempt, my W2 should not have those FICA boxes blank. TurboTax also asks me a lot of questions to get clarity about my tax situation. I'm not saying that it should amend it, but at least it should tell me that it sees a problem and ask me to confirm the same. My taxes were accepted by IRS, not sure why they didn't pick it up either, as I mentioned it is not a small amount. That lead me to think that TurboTax might have taken care of it.

[vthottat]

Thanks Opus 17 for the response. I've confirmed that I am not exempt from paying those taxes. The company looked into it and confirmed that it was a misunderstanding and error on their part. I don't think TurboTax ever notified me that this might be an issue. I think I will have to amend the return as you said. But, if TurboTax fixed it and I paid those taxes already (I still did pay a 5 digit amount in federal taxes according to box 24 in my return), I I did not want to pay it again. I also wonder why IRS accepted my return if it was wrong by a large amount. That lead me to think that I should double check if turboTax took care of it.

[Opus 17]

@vthottat 

Print your return, or examine the PDF to see if you have a form SS-8. If you don’t, then you did not pay the uncollected Social Security tax.  That is the only form where that tax would have been collected.

If you enter a W-2 and leave boxes 4 or 6 blank, TurboTax will ask you on the next screen to double check your work.  But as I indicated, TurboTax will not automatically collect additional Social Security tax because some people are legitimately exempt.

[vthottat]

Thank you Opus 17. I guess this was the information I was looking for. Though I do not remember it, it is possible that TurboTax asked me about FICA taxes, I might not have paid enough attention. I do not see an SS-8 form on my return, so I guess I will amend the return to fix this issue. Thanks again, really appreciate the responses.

[VolvoGirl]

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@vthottat wrote:

I also wonder why IRS accepted my return if it was wrong by a large amount. 

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It wasn't "wrong".   Your return matched what your employer sent into the IRS.  The IRS doesn't know if your W2 was wrong.  

[vthottat]

OK got it, thank you.

[xmasbaby0]

@vthottat And....you may not be aware of this, but there are plenty of people who do not have FICA deducted or shown on their W-2's.  As just one example....millions of teachers pay in to Teachers Retirement System instead of paying in to Social Security or Medicare so they have no SS or Medicare in their boxes 4 or 6.   So a W-2 without FICA does not trigger TT into alerting you, and it certainly would not cause TT to add that to your tax due to "take care of it" for you.

[Opus 17]

@vthottat 

I forgot to mention the “accepted“ issue as well. When a tax return is accepted for processing, that only means that it has past basic checks for security and quality control — that it is being submitted by the person named, and that the tax return is complete, and there aren’t any required forms or calculations that are missing or incorrect.

Acceptance is not an endorsement that the return is correct.  The IRS has three years to audit  tax returns, or six years in the case of deliberate fraud or a deficiency of more than 25%.  If you want to play the IRS lottery, you could do nothing for now, and wait the six years to see if they catch the mistake. On the other hand, if they do catch the mistake, you could be saddled with substantial interest and penalties, in addition to the tax owed.  The IRS might also audit the employer if they begin to wonder why some of the employees are not paying Social Security tax. 

anyway, you know you owe the tax, so start setting aside some money and you can prepare an amended return with form SS8 in a couple of weeks.

[vthottat]

@xmasbaby0 Thank you for the information, I did not know that.

[vthottat]

@Opus 17 Thanks for that detailed explanation. I did not know any of that.