I earned $7000 more this year but the federal government actually took out less taxes this year than last. Why would it be reduced so much this year?

[DoninGA]

The tax brackets changed due to the tax code changes.  You are probably in a lower bracket.
The Standard Deduction almost doubled for most taxpayers.

[norris-cheryl]

The problem is that I received over a $400 return and this year I owe over $300. I already have $250 per month taken out extra for taxes so I don't owe.

[DoninGA]

You can review your form 1040 to see if there are any noticeable discrepancies
 Click on Tax Tools on the left side of the screen.  Click on Tools.  Click on View Tax Summary.  Click on Preview my 1040 on the left side of the screen.

[norris-cheryl]

Thank you. I will give that a try.

[norris-cheryl]

Everything looks good there.  I am just confused as to why during the year not enough money would be withheld from my paychecks especially since I am already adding an additional $125/pay check because in the past they haven't taken out enough.  Two years ago I owed over $3000 which is why I started the extra amount being withheld.  Last year it was enough but this year it is not.  Just not sure why even though I made over $7000 more this year less money was withheld during the year.

[Opus 17]

The first number you should be concerned with is your actual tax liability, your tax bill for the year before considering withholding or other payments.  That should go down for most people.

Then, consider your withholding.  If your tax liability went down but your withholding went down more, that may be a result of the new withholding tables the IRS published for employers to use.  They wanted the tax cut to show up in people's pay checks right away instead of in their tax refund at the end of the year.  If your withholding was lowered too far, it may mean that you got caught in a window where your withholding went down too much, that can happen to a few people, withholding is imperfect.  Or, it might mean your employer did not correctly apply your request to have extra taxes withheld.  You can use this publication to calculate what your withholding should have been.  https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p15.pdf

If your tax went down but your withholding went down farther, at least you still got a tax cut.

And unfortunately, some taxpayers will see a tax increase due to the changes in certain deductions.

You can use this calculator to reset your withholding for 2019.

IRS.gov/W4App