Why am I being charged state taxes?

[juluan69]

I have never had to pay state taxes why do I owe this year?

[ee-ea]

The best way to find out what happened is to make a line by line comparison of this return and the prior one(s).

[xmasbaby0]

No one can see your tax return.  Make sure you have checked all of the amounts you entered from boxes 16 and 17 of your W-2's.   Check any amounts you have entered for state  income and state tax withheld from any other documents you entered.   If they are correct, then maybe something changed in your state---maybe you lost a credit you have received in past years.  Or maybe you just did not have enough tax withheld for 2022.  Print out the 2021 and 2022 state returns and compare them side by side, line by line.

[HelenC12]

Are you asking, "Why you're being charged a fee for filing your state income tax return?" or are you asking, "Why do you owe State Income Tax?"

If you're asking why do you owe state income tax, see my response below.

We can't see your tax return to know why you owe state income taxes. Did you have other income besides your W-2 income, like stock sales or a side job? If so, that could result in a higher state income tax amount since you did not pay state taxes on the amounts earned. 

Once again, the main reason you may owe state income tax is because you didn't pay in enough, from your paychecks, to cover the taxes based on your income (earnings). 

• Contact your Human Resources or payroll department to see how you can adjust your state withholding so you don't owe in the future.

There may be several other factors that result in you owing:

• Double check the amounts you entered into TurboTax to make sure they were entered correctly.
• Do a state income tax return line by line comparison to see what is different this year versus last year.  
• You deferred less income into your Employer-Sponsored Retirement Plan or Flexible Savings Plan.
• You didn't qualify for a tax credit you received last year (or the credit amount decreased).
• You removed a dependent.
• You changed your filing status.
• If you itemize, your Itemized Deductions are lower this year or the standard deduction is lower.

To pay your state income tax amount due, see the following: 

• Although a growing number of states offer direct-deposited refunds and/or let you pay your taxes with direct debit, not all states offer this. 
• When you get ready to file your state return, we'll let you know which tax refund and tax payment options your particular state offers. 
• You can also visit your state's website or contacting your state Department of Revenue for more information.

[Edited 03-31-2023|4:23 PM PST]

@juluan69