Very confused and concerned about this years taxes

General
1

I have always claimed either 0 or 1 on my taxes, and I have ALWAYS gotten a refund or had a break even year.

This year it is saying that I owe $977 in federal taxes.

I have worked one job, so only one W-2. I filed as single, and checked with two different services and got the same answer. Cashapp filing as well as turbo tax.

I don’t mind sharing my income, so these are the numbers:

Total income pre tax: $42,831.96

Federal taxes already paid: $2,178.58

Social security taxes paid: $2,655.58

Medicare tax paid: $621.06

State tax paid(Colorado): $1,665.57

Adding all of those up, I have already paid $7,120.79 in taxes this year.

Adding the $977 they claim I owe, that is $8,097.79

8,097.79/42,831.96=0.189

That is 19% of my entire income as someone making not a lot of fucking money.

Sorry for the number dump, but I was REALLY counting on a refund to help out around this time of the year and I am losing my mind trying to make sense of it. I worked the same job last year, with a similar total income(variance in overtime hours) and i had a refund of 1,400

2

Welcome to taxes. 19% of overall income is normal for making $42k (or even low for a lot of folks depending on what state they live in)

The federal tax checks out. You should owe $3156 in federal. Not sure why you did not have enough withheld throughout the year, but I’d check with your employer.

A few possibilities:

  • Are you in the service industry where you had $0 paychecks and maybe not enough hourly wages to cover your taxes?

  • Did you have a rather large bonus or short term disability claim that somehow didn’t get taxed?

  • Did you have several varying weeks of pay, some with lower income where no tax was needed to be taken out based on your withholding status?

If nothing is out of the ordinary, you’ll need to check with your employer and make sure your current W-4 is filled out properly.

I’m not sure how the Colorado tax system works, but perhaps you’ll get a refund from the state if you have renters/homestead credits.

Good luck with everything!

3

I have always claimed either 0 or 1 on my taxes,

Claiming zero or 1 doesn’t exist anymore. They redesigned the W-4 look here.

Go fill out a new one with your employer.

Ignore these Ss and Medicare taxes. Everyone pays them and they are used for old age benefits. They are not income taxes.

Social security taxes paid: $2,655.58
Medicare tax paid: $621.06

4

You got the help throughout the year by under withholding.

5

Do you qualify for any tax credits that might help?

6

Are you sure you didn’t accidently claim 1 for dependents? They might have thought you are taking a child tax credit.

Personal exemptions don’t exist anymore. Double check your W-4.

7

2,178 withheld on almost 43k of income and you thought you were going to get a refund???

8

You definitely under withheld. Did you possibly put head of household on your w4 or try to “claim yourself”?

9

I have had many clients who were under-withheld for 2024. I think the tables were lower so people would have more money throughout the year.

10

Oaklan said:
I have had many clients who were under-withheld for 2024. I think the tables were lower so people would have more money throughout the year.

For op, with the w4 set to single and no adjustments, enough would be withheld.

The withholding tables are fine. It’s either an error on the w4 or employer error.