What should i change on my W4 or job to avoid pay tax at the end of the year?

[gac1]

This year when I was filing my tax for 2022. I end up having to pay taxes.  My total income for my two jobs was about 20,000. I only paid about $780 in tax. I am single with no children and a soon-to-be grad college student. What should I change or adjust on my taxes for both jobs to avoid paying taxes next year? 

[Tax Hero Niki · Accepted solution]

Hi Gac! Owing at tax time is not a good experience. I'm glad you came to ask about this. When you have multiple jobs, you have an extra step to do when filling out your W-4. The W-4 Form tells your payroll department how much taxes to withhold for you.

You can use the multiple jobs worksheet on the W-4 to help them withhold the correct amount. See page 4. For a salary of $20k split between two jobs, the table says there is no additional withholding to request on the W-4. I recommend you look at your paystubs, and make sure both employers are withholding federal taxes. You also want to be sure that when you file your taxes, that you are not missing any credits that could help lower your tax bill. Since you are in school, there are tax credits that you can look into, like the American Opportunity Credit and the Lifetime Learning Credit, that can help lower your tax bill, too. TurboTax will calculate these credits for you when you enter the 1098-T tax form from the school.