My wife and I make the same, all w-2 income & file M1 on our W4. Why do we owe a five-figure amount in federal tax beyond what was withheld by our respective employers?

[jerry2000 · Accepted solution]

For two earner families, and especially as your income gets higher, the withholding tables do not work very well. You can file new W-4s with your employers and choose "married but withhold at the higher single rate" and claim 0 exemptions. Even that may not have enough withheld, so you can also ask your employer to withhold an extra cash amount each pay period. I fought that for years and both my wife and I had to withhold at the single rate, claim 0 and have extra cash withheld each pay period.