Federal Taxes Not Being Witheld

[sevcic06]

Hello,
 I had to return back to work this year and filled out my W-4 as exempt: 0 status: married. Which is what I was always told to do so that more taxes would be taken out through the year. I have been with this new company for 6 months. Not one single paycheck has had federal taxes taken out. Not a dime. All the other taxes have been taken just not Federal. Any advice on what I should do going forward? How can I get them to take out my taxes?  THANK YOU

[xmasbaby0]

You  said you were "exempt"?    That was a mistake.  Saying you are exempt from federal tax means the employer will not withhold federal tax. You need to change that and have the employer start federal tax withholding asap.  You may end up owing a significant amount at tax time--and if you owe more than $1000 you will also be subject to an underpayment penalty.  And claiming to be exempt from tax when you are not exempt can land you in other trouble with the IRS.  You might need to pay some estimated tax to the IRS before the year ends to avoid a penalty.  You can do that on the the IRS site:

https://www.irs.gov/payments/direct-pay

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/tax-topics/help/what-to-know-about-the-new-2020-irs-form-w-4-emplo...

[sevcic06]

I looked at my HR screen and it says:

Exempt from Withholding

No

Should I put fill out the new depedents area on the W4 form? Do you think that may make a difference?

This is what I was asking my HR about if that is what they meant and they just referred me to the IRS.gov site. 

0. Allowances is 0 because the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) has suspended allowances or exemptions with this new withholding form.

Thanks for your help. 

[rjs]

The new W-4 form for 2020 doesn't use allowances anymore, so you no longer "claim 0" or any other number of allowances. The new form works differently. Use the Tax Withholding Estimator on the IRS web site to figure out what to put on your W-4 form.

Tax Withholding Estimator

Whatever you do on your W-4 now, be sure to use the Tax Withholding Estimator again after you get your first paycheck in 2021. What you do for the remainder of this year will probably not be appropriate for a full year.

[Critter-3]

If you are married and your spouse has more income than you then here is a tip ... your W-4 should have SINGLE checked and NOTHING else filled in on the W-4 form ... this should help keep you out of hot water.

If you want to make up some for lost time in 2020 then you can add an amount to line 4C for an amount of your choosing to be taken out every paycheck ON TOP of what the withholding charts say. 

[Opus 17]

I suggest you turn in a new W-4.  If the W-4 you turned in had "allowances" on it, it was outdated.  Get the current form here,

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw4.pdf

If you plan to itemize deductions, have two jobs, or a married and your spouse works, you need to fill out all the worksheets and submit new W-4s at all the jobs so everything matches.

If you are married and your spouse does not work and your weekly income is $461 or less, you would not have federal taxes withheld.  Otherwise, you have a problem.  You may be under withheld and may owe a large tax bill and possibly a penalty.  Use the IRS calculator to set your withholding for the rest of the year, then use it again in January to set your 2021 withholding.  Remember to update all the jobs between you and your spouse at the same time. 

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/tax-withholding-estimator