Boxes 18, 19, and 20 are blank on my W2. RITA online calculator says I owe them $800. I’ve paid state and federal. Can RITA really cost this much when my income was $36k?

[EdwardK]

It depends. If Form W-2 Boxes 18-20 are blank, apparently your employer did not withhold taxes on your behalf. According to the numbers you provided, the RITA effective tax rate is approximately 2% ($800/$36,000).

You could compare this rate to prior years and/or comparable state and federal tax rates by reviewing each tax return and finding the total tax line (note total tax is different from taxes withheld) and dividing it by whichever income line you wish to use.

You may calculate different types of tax rates by reviewing your tax returns. Please note tax rates are different from tax brackets.

A common standard is an effective tax rate. Generally, an effective tax rate is calculated by dividing Adjusted Gross Income (Form 1040 Line 38) by Total Tax (Form 1040 Line 63). However, you could also use different amounts for the numerator and/or denominator to calculate different types of tax rates depending on what line items you wanted to include/exclude, i.e. Taxable Income (Form 1040 Line 43) / Total Tax (Form 1040 Line 63). Please review the following TurboTax link(s) and the link(s) embedded on the webpage(s) under Related Information for more information:

• How do I print a copy of my tax return after filing, for my own records?
• What is My Tax Bracket?