Hello,
My total income was $78,176 (box 1 on my W2), and I paid $1,888 in state income tax (box 17 on my W-2). After doing my taxes, it says I will owe the CA state $1,256 and that I am getting a $0 federal refund.
Do those numbers sound correct for me to have to pay that much in CA taxes? I just want to make sure that I am doing my taxes right before submitting them.
I provided some numbers below for context from my last few W-2's to compare how much CA taxes have been withheld over time:
From looking at the percentages below, a lesser percentage of state income taxes is being withheld from my paycheck every year. Even though I am making more money every year. I think that is why gradually I have been getting less of a tax refund and I actually owe money to the CA state. Back in 2022 I made less money, but a higher percentage of about 0.038% was taken out of my paychecks. In comparison to 2024 were I make a lot more money, but only about 0.024% is withheld from my paychecks towards CA taxes.
W-2 2024 - (Box 16) $78,176 x 0.024% = $1,876.22 (closest number I could compute to $1,888.63)
State income tax / Box 17 = $1,888.63
W-2 2023 - (Box 16) $72,870 x 0.038% = 2,769.96 (closest number I could compute to $2,746.22)
State income tax / Box 17 = $2,746.22
W-2 2022 - (Box 16) $63,877 x 0.044% =$2,810,58 (closest number I could compute to $2,796.17)
State income tax / Box 17 = $2,796.17
Thanks for your help.
Best regards,
As your income has increased the amount of taxes being taken out of your paycheck for California has gone down. That is why you owe. Time to have a word with HR.
Thanks for confirming my suspicions, RobertB4444!
Please excuse my typo that I have underlined and bolded below:
Hello,
My total income was $78,176 (box 1 on my W2), and I paid $1,888 in state income tax (box 17 on my W-2). After doing my taxes, it says I will owe the CA state $1,256 and that I am getting a $0 federal refund.
Do those numbers sound correct for me to have to pay that much in CA taxes? I just want to make sure that I am doing my taxes right before submitting them.
I provided some numbers below for context from my last few W-2's to compare how much CA taxes have been withheld over time:
From looking at the percentages below, a lesser percentage of state income taxes is being withheld from my paycheck every year. Even though I am making more money every year. I think that is why gradually I have been getting less of a tax refund and I actually owe money to the CA state. Back in 2022 I made less money, but a higher percentage of about 0.044% was taken out of my paychecks. In comparison to 2024 were I make a lot more money, but only about 0.024% is withheld from my paychecks towards CA taxes.
W-2 2024 - (Box 16) $78,176 x 0.024% = $1,876.22 (closest number I could compute to $1,888.63)
State income tax / Box 17 = $1,888.63
W-2 2023 - (Box 16) $72,870 x 0.038% = 2,769.96 (closest number I could compute to $2,746.22)
State income tax / Box 17 = $2,746.22
W-2 2022 - (Box 16) $63,877 x 0.044% =$2,810,58 (closest number I could compute to $2,796.17)
State income tax / Box 17 = $2,796.17
Thanks for your help.
Best regards,