Why do i owe so much for my State taxes but getting a refund for my Federal taxes?

[xmasbaby0]

No one can see your tax returns so we do not know why you owe the state.   The usual reason is that you did not have enough tax withheld from your paychecks and still owe the state more.   Double check all of the amounts you entered from yourW-2's especially from boxes 16 and 17 to see if you made any mistakes.   You could print out your 2020 and 2021 state returns to see them side by side and look for what is different----line by line.

And there are some federal credits that changed for 2021 so you may be getting a federal refund because of earned income credit, the child tax credit or the recovery rebate credit.

[AliciaP1]

Can you clarify which state you are filing?

[slowarm]

Refunds or taxes due are based on the following:

1) Income you had in the year, and

2) How much you elected to have withheld for your state taxes during the year

My best guess is, without seeing your W-2's, 1099's, etc. is that you didn't have enough state taxes withheld

If you didn't have enough (or any) withheld you WILL owe.

[okeyjnr]

I am filing in California. 

[SweetieJean]

California tax law is different than Federal.

[okeyjnr]

Thank you all for your responses. I figured out why i have to pay so much and it's because my State Income tax (box 17) on my W2 is blank. Is it normal for that to happen? Could that have happened because of something i failed to fill out or is that on my employer?

[xmasbaby0]

@okeyjnr Ask your employer.   Nothing in box 17 means no state tax was withheld.