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Question about why I have to pay so much in CA taxes
Hello,
My total income was $78,176 (box 1 on my W2), and I paid $1,888 in state income tax (box 17 on my W-2). After doing my taxes, it says I will owe the CA state $1,256 and that I am getting a $0 federal refund.
Do those numbers sound correct for me to have to pay that much in CA taxes? I just want to make sure that I am doing my taxes right before submitting them.
I provided some numbers below for context from my last few W-2's to compare how much CA taxes have been withheld over time:
From looking at the percentages below, a lesser percentage of state income taxes is being withheld from my paycheck every year. Even though I am making more money every year. I think that is why gradually I have been getting less of a tax refund and I actually owe money to the CA state. Back in 2022 I made less money, but a higher percentage of about 0.038% was taken out of my paychecks. In comparison to 2024 were I make a lot more money, but only about 0.024% is withheld from my paychecks towards CA taxes.
W-2 2024 - (Box 16) $78,176 x 0.024% = $1,876.22 (closest number I could compute to $1,888.63)
State income tax / Box 17 = $1,888.63
W-2 2023 - (Box 16) $72,870 x 0.038% = 2,769.96 (closest number I could compute to $2,746.22)
State income tax / Box 17 = $2,746.22
W-2 2022 - (Box 16) $63,877 x 0.044% =$2,810,58 (closest number I could compute to $2,796.17)
State income tax / Box 17 = $2,796.17
Thanks for your help.
Best regards,