topic For purposes of figuring the underpayment penalty, you may elect to treat the tax withheld as paid when it was actually withheld. yes or no in Retirement tax questions

For purposes of figuring the underpayment penalty, you may elect to treat the tax withheld as paid when it was actually withheld. yes or no

wconway30 — Thu, 06 Jun 2019 08:57:47 GMT

Should I answer yes or no to statement " for purposes of figuring the underpayment penalty, you may elect to treat the tax withheld as paid when it was actually withheld"

Tax withheld can be considered evenly throughout the year...

DianeW — Thu, 06 Jun 2019 08:57:48 GMT

Tax withheld can be considered evenly throughout the year, my suggestion is to answer "No". This way the withholding is spread evenly throughout the year which can help to reduce the penalty for an underpayment in the early quarters of the year.

Re: Tax withheld can be considered evenly throughout the year...

rejohanson — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 16:16:21 GMT

what happens if I say yes?

Re: Tax withheld can be considered evenly throughout the year...

SteamTrain — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 17:14:01 GMT

@rejohanson

IF you say Yes...then you have to get all your monthly records, and enter just the exact amounts that were withheld for each quarter during the year.

And the "quarters" are 3mo, 2mo, 3mo and 4mo.

(Jan, Feb, Mar) (Apr, May) (Jun, Jul, Aug) and (Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec)

Though the last 4 mos may be automatically entered as whatever remains. (I haven't done it in awhile)