W-2 filing status

[rdu812]

My wife and I file jointly. I use married and 2 on my W-2. When I enter my W-2 info, I am getting a $1000 refund. I enter my wife's W-2, which at single and 0, and now I owe $4000. What needs to change? I make 136.5K and she makes 34.4K.

[xmasbaby0]

You started off with your first W-2 and your refund look high?  Then you added another W-2 and it stopped looking so good? That is normal.  When you added more income, your tax liability increased, so you saw your refund decrease.  The program began by giving you your standard deduction—- which lowered your taxable income. So you are not being taxed on as much of the income on that first W-2.  Then you added taxable income--so the refund went down. Your refund (or tax due) is based on the total of your income, not “per W-2.”  Wait until you have entered ALL of your income and deduction information.  You can't really tell anything until it is all entered.  That “refund monitor” does not mean anything until everything has been entered.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/2273878-why-did-my-refund-drop-when-i-entered-another-w-2

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

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

[rdu812]

I stated the owe number wrong it is a little owe 3K.  This started about 3 years ago. Even after I enter all data, at the end of the process, I still owe Federal several thousand dollars, where for many years I always received a refund. But for some reason I always get a small refund from the state. Somewhere something has changed.

[xmasbaby0]

Then something needs to change with the amount you are having withheld from your paychecks.   If you end up owing every year you are not having enough tax withheld.   Talk to your employer about changing the amount of tax that is being withheld from your paychecks.   We can help with the federal W-4---and in fact you were already provided with a link for that---but we do not know what state you are in so you need to talk to your employer about your state withholding if you end up owing the state.

[fjlastname]

I agree W-2 filing status needs to change.  You guys my want to do a little more tax planning.  US taxes aren't a total rip off, but the rules do push us into doing business activities and borrowing money.  Good luck with this!