topic I would like to know why I owe taxes? in Get your taxes done using TurboTax

I would like to know why I owe taxes?

user187211987 — Wed, 11 Feb 2026 04:14:29 GMT

Last year I filed, and I was supposed to get back two hundred and forty-eight. Dollars and I never got and this year. it say. I owe 5thousand. and three and 22 Dollars

Re: I would like to know why I owe taxes?

Texas Roger — Wed, 07 Feb 2024 15:15:11 GMT

No one on this site can see your tax return. Double check all your entries to make sure you didn't make a mistake. Look at your 2022 and 2023 tax forms side by side to see what changed. That may help you understand what happened.

Re: I would like to know why I owe taxes?

Vanessa A — Wed, 07 Feb 2024 15:15:32 GMT

Did you earn more this year than last year? Change jobs? Have less withheld? Make a typo?

When you owe taxes it is because the amount you had withheld is less than what your tax liability is based on the amount of income you earned minus any deductions. This could be for several reasons.

You were self-employed and have a liability for Self-Employment Taxes. These taxes are 15.3% of your profit. So if you made a profit of $10,000, you would owe $1,530 for self-employment taxes. If this is your situation, you should be making quarterly estimated payments to cover your SE taxes and avoid penalties.
You had multiple jobs and each employer withheld enough to cover the wages you made with them, but when you combine your wages from multiple employers you are in a higher tax bracket and neither employer withheld at the higher rate. If you have multiple employers, you may want to complete a new W4 form for the one you make the most for or even for 2 of them. You will want to complete section 2 and probably section four to have an additional amount withheld every pay period. You can calculate the amount extra to be withheld, if your job situation is not expected to change, by dividing your $1,700 due by the number of pay periods you have in a year (usually 26 or 52) and entering that on line 4c.
You claimed an exemption on your W-4, or you did not update it. For example, you had a child that was 15 when you started the job, but now they are 17 and no longer eligible for the child tax credit or your filing status has changed.
You made a typo when entering your income.

In the meantime, if you are unable to pay your taxes in full, you should still file by April 18th, but you can apply for a payment plan from the IRS. When you get to the end of TurboTax, prior to hitting file, it will give you the option to apply.

Be sure to go through all the questions in TurboTax to make sure you did not miss any credits or deductions.

Re: I would like to know why I owe taxes?

xmasbaby0 — Wed, 07 Feb 2024 15:20:00 GMT

You have two distinct issues.

First----no one knows why you did not get your 2022 refund last year. You need to check and see if that return was e-filed successfully, and then check to see if the IRS issued it to you.

What does it say in your account for 2022? Does it show that the return was accepted? Or does it say something else---like "rejected," "printed," or "ready to mail?”

If your return was accepted:

If the IRS accepted it, what does it say here?

https://www.irs.gov/refunds

As for why you owe for 2023----the usual reason for owing tax is that you did not have enough tax withheld from your income during the year.

information? All your income, etc.? Many tax documents that you need do not arrive until late January or even February, so maybe you do not have it all there yet.

Lots of tax laws changed. Those changes are resulting in lower refunds for lots of people.

There is no recovery rebate credit (stimulus $) for 2023. The childcare credit is less and is not refundable. The child tax credit is different and it is less. And for some people, earned income credit is different because there is no “lookback” to an earlier year. Those are some of the reasons your refund may be less.

There are a lot of variables that affect your refund or tax due including how much you earned, how much tax you had withheld, your filing status, the number of dependents you claim, your deductions and credits, etc. You may have lost Earned Income Credit or the Child Tax Credit— did a child turn 17? If you received the EIC last year, remember that changes in the amount you earn have a big effect on the amount of EIC you can get. (Sometimes earning more money means less EIC) Are you 65 or older ? If so, your standard deduction is higher. Everyone has a higher standard deduction now so it is harder to use itemized deductions.

And…..the child tax credit is very different for 2023 For 2021 you could get $3600 for a child under 6 or $3000 for a child between 6 and 17 even if you had no income/did not work. That is NOT the way it will work for your 2023 tax return. The “old” rules are back. The maximum amount of the child tax credit is now $2000; the refundable “additional child tax credit” amount is $1600. In order to get that credit, you have to have income from working. The credit is calculated based on the amount you earned above $2500 multiplied by 15%, up to the full $1600. If your child is older than 16 at the end of 2023, you do not get the CTC. But you may still get the non-refundable $500 credit for other dependents instead.

And of course, always check your own data entries, looking for errors such as misplaced decimals or extra zeros.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/tax-refund/refund-go-compared-last-year/L97JmhUbi_US_en_US?uid=ld9ijm41

Print out 2022 and 2023 and compare them side by side to see what is different.

https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/tax-payments/video-why-would-i-owe-federal-taxes/L3VXudPiN