Married filing jointly with zero withholdings, still owe $10k+ each year :-(

[jserbo]

How do I ensure I do not owe taxes every year? We file married filing jointly and have zero withholdings (which should mean max taxes are withheld right)? - I can opt to withhold even more, but unsure if that is needed and if so how much I should add to withholdings 

[xmasbaby0]

Zero withholdings---meaning no tax withheld?     When you look at your pay stubs do you see federal and state tax withheld?   What was in box 2 of your W-2?

W-4

https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/calculators/w4/ 

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

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

[jserbo]

Hello! I misspoke, I do have taxes withheld. I meant to say that I have 0 allowances on the W4. So with that, should have maximum taxes taken out.

[AmeliesUncle]

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@jserbo wrote:

I meant to say that I have 0 allowances on the W4. 

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Modern W-4s don't have "allowances" any more.  Unless your employer is using the old W-4, the new ones are very different.  On the new ones, make sure you check the box in Step 2c (if your spouse also works, both of you should check that box).

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

If you owe over $10,000 a year, you should have about $200 more per week taken out of your paycheck for Federal Income Tax Withholding (if you are paid every two weeks, then $400 per paycheck).  After submitting your new W-4 to your employer, you should verify the correct additional amount is being taken out.  However, it is already almost the middle of the year.  If you want to 'break even' for 2025, you would need to take out $400 more per week (if you are paid every two weeks, $800 per paycheck).  But then you would need to be sure to change it back in January 2026.