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Question

Want to avoid owing taxes

Forum|Forum|2 months ago
May 13, 2026
1 reply
99 views

My husband and I have owed a lot of taxes the last couple years, and we have to pay a penalty for underpayment. How do I determine how much our employers should be withholding?

Ask the Experts - W4 - May 2026

Employee Tax Expert

Employee Tax Expert

To avoid an underpayment penalty, you generally must have withheld 90% of your current years tax liability or 100% of the previous years tax liability. If your adjusted gross income exceeds 150K, you must have withheld 110% of the previous years liability.

Please note when I refer to liability , I am not referring to the amount due when you filed your return. I am referring to the total tax calculated on your taxable income

The TurboTax W-4 is a great tool to estimate how much you should have withheld to avoid a penalty and calculate your tax liability. Here is the link:https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/calculators/w4/

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