Federal withholding error on my W-2

[angelarob13]

I was wondering if I still owe anything being my employer messed up my W-2 on my federal withholdings. They did not put any withholding even though on the year before I had my federal withholding taxes taken from my paycheck. I have already contacted my employer about the mistake, but it will take 120 days to get my case processed, and an extension has been filed. 

[xmasbaby0]

No one in this forum can say whether you will owe.   We cannot see your information and do not know how much you earned.     Do you mean your employer withheld federal tax but did not enter it on your W-2?  Or do you mean they did not withhold the tax at all?    Did they withhold Social Security and Medicare (boxes 4 and 6 on your W-2)?    Did they withhold state tax?

Provide more details ---but no personal information.

[Opus 17]

If you had no tax withheld, there could be various reasons for that.  But you file with what you have, and if you owe because of no withholding, then you owe.

If you had tax withheld according to your paychecks but it is not listed on your W-2, then you need to get a corrected W-2 from your employer.  Don't file your tax return until you get a corrected W-2, but you should file a request for an automatic extension. 

[angelarob13]

Yes they withheld social security and Medicare but nothing was withheld from my federal income tax, but last season there was federal income withheld being I did sign a W-4. So it should’ve been withheld 

[xmasbaby0]

"should have been withheld" does not change your situation for right now.   You will need to enter the W-2 as it appears---and if you owe---then,  sorry-- but you owe.   Complete a new W-4 for the employer and watch your paychecks and pay stubs carefully to see if they are withholding tax gong forward.

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

[Vanessa A]

How much did you earn per pay period?  It may be that your pay during the pay period was less than the standard deduction 

 Did you have more than one job? 

 What filing status did you use on your W-4?

Your employer NOT withholding taxes, does not stop you from having to pay them when you file your tax return.  If you have a tax liability, you will have to pay when you file or you can set up a  payment plan from the IRS

[Opus 17]

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@angelarob13 wrote:

Yes they withheld social security and Medicare but nothing was withheld from my federal income tax, but last season there was federal income withheld being I did sign a W-4. So it should’ve been withheld 

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If your W-2 is correct, and no federal tax was withheld, you file your return on that basis.  If you owe more than $1000, you likely owe a penalty for not having enough withholding.  

If you submitted a correct W-4 and your employer ignored it and withheld incorrectly, you might have an argument that your employer should pay the penalty.  And you might have to get your union or your state labor board involved.  But you always owe your own correct tax.  And if you owe (let's say) $5000, it would be because you should have been paying $100 a week throughout the year through withholding.   You got the $100 a week to spend because it wasn't withheld, now you owe it to the IRS; if it had been withheld you never would have gotten that in your pay in the first place.    But you always owe your correct tax to the IRS, whether that is through withholding or payments.  If your employer made a mistake they don't owe your taxes.  (They might owe your penalty.)