should I have an underpayment penalty if my income is drastically lower this year than the previous year?

[lbieberle]

Last year I had a large capital gains that boosted my income. Almost doubled it. I'm filing on turbo tax this year and its saying I have an underpayment penalty. Should I have a penalty assessed?

[LindaS5247]

It is possible that you will have an underpayment penalty this year even if your income is much lower. It is not really possible to tell without analyzing your tax return.  Did you answer the questions regarding the underpayment penalty to see if it can be waived?

If you didn't pay enough tax throughout the year, either through withholding or by making estimated tax payments, you may have to pay a penalty for underpayment of estimated tax.

You can get there as follows:

1. Click on the search icon at the upper right of your TurboTax screen
2. Type "underpayment penalty"
3. Click on the link "Jump to underpayment penalty"
4. If you can answer yes to all three questions you may be able to avoid some or all of your penalties.

Your screens will look something like this:

Click here for information on entering your estimated tax payments.

Click here for "How Do I Make Estimated taxes"

Click here for additional information on "How to Determine What to Pay and When"

Click here for common questions on Estimated taxes.