Why do I owe state taxes? I work out of state and live in-state and never owed this much before and I've done nothing differently. Please help me.

[blockpak]

I owe $1,060. I rent an apartment. Wasn't unemployed in 2021 last year, I worked 36 hrs/week. TT won't tell me why I owe money and I can't make sense of it. No one else I know owes significant state taxes and I never did in the past.

[xmasbaby0]

No one else can see your return.   Sounds like you have two state returns to deal with.   When you live in one state and work in a different state you usually have two returns to prepare unless the states have reciprocity.   You have to prepare the non-resident state first, then the return for the state you live in.   Did you do it that way?

Did you double check the amounts you entered from your W-2's for the income and amount of tax withheld?  Make sure there were no zeros added or decimal points misplaced?

[oogielaflick]

SInce you work in another state, I would check with your employer to see if they are even taking your residence state' tax witholdings out of your check.  Then also, check to see WHICH state they are witholding taxes for, your residence state or the state where you are working.  But if you just rent an apartment and work, with nothing else going on but just this simple tax return, I would say that you should probably get all or at least, most of whatever was withheld, in a refund instead of owing money.  But hey, a lot depends on how much was withheld, and other factors such as what kind of exemptions you claimed, etc.