I filled out my 2018 taxes last year and only entered W2 info and some student loan interest as well. I am getting a penalty for them and don't understand why. Help?

[LinaJ2020]

What kind of penalty are you speaking about?  

[richastacio]

Specifically a Underpayment one.  Not sure how to address this and confused as I simply followed Turbotax's instructions when filling out the form last year and, again, I don't have any special circumstances - had a couple of W2's between me and my wife that I entered, had student loan interest, and took the standard deduction and that was about it.

[AnnetteB6]

If you are seeing an underpayment penalty included as part of your tax return, it simply means that you did not have enough Federal taxes withheld from your W-2 income to pay your taxes.

The Federal income tax system is a 'pay as you go' system, you cannot simply settle up when you file your return without including a penalty if you did not withhold enough. 

To read more, see:  Why am I getting an underpayment penalty? 

[richastacio]

Thanks so much for your answer!  However, I'm still confused.  I now understand that I'm getting an underpayment penalty for not paying my estimated taxes per period (per quarter I believe)? 

What I'm having trouble grasping here is, from my understanding, these types of penalties are received when taxes aren't paid by the quarterly deadlines the federal government sets, and typically affect those who are self-employed or something similar as those individuals are responsible for ensuring they pay.

However, I am not self-employed and my federal taxes were taken from each one of me and my wife's paychecks throughout 2019 so I don't understand how we didn't make these deadlines.  Does this make sense?  

Thanks so much,

Rich

[LindaB1993]

The underpayment penalty is not limited to quarterly estimated taxes paid.  The IRS expects you to pay your federal income tax obligation as you earn income throughout the year, either through paycheck withholdings or estimated tax payments. Pay too little, and you could end up with a big tax bill when you file your federal income tax return — plus an underpayment penalty.

An underpayment penalty is a penalty charged to a taxpayer who does not pay enough toward his total tax obligation throughout the year. Taxpayers subject to the underpayment penalty use Form 1040 or 1040A to determine the amount.