Huge (for us) tax bill. What went wrong?

[Anonymous]

This happened to my DH and me a few years ago when the withholdings table was changed. You have to be extremely careful to make sure figure out withholdings. I found an online calculator that helped. At this point, you might want to talk to a professional to male sure you didn't accidentally check something.

I am so sorry you are going through this!

[Anonymous]

Well Op, that's good, because we need a much money as we can get to support the war and pay for all the illegal immigrants camped at our southern doorstep. Thank you for doing your part. Much appreiciated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well Op, that's good, because we need a much money as we can get to support the war and pay for all the illegal immigrants camped at our southern doorstep. Thank you for doing your part. Much appreiciated.

Oh shut up you racist piece of crap. Immigrants are a net positive to the economy, and the amount spent on Ukraine is tiny compared to the suffering of the people there.

[Anonymous]

When the IRSA changed the W-4 form last year, everything got screwed up. I'm a little terrified about how much our tax bill will be since DH and I both switched jobs this year and both had to use the weird new W-4 form. We probably should have consulted a tax advisor.

[Anonymous]

Are you making that income for the first time? Is it the first time you owe so much in taxes? How come you didn’t realize that your take home per pay period had increased by that much?
25k is an insane amount to owe at that income.

[Anonymous]

It's probably the withholding. A few years ago, they (the IRS, I guess) changed something, and it has been impossible for us to figure out what our withholding should be. You could also pay estimated taxes, which is what our tax guy told us to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you making that income for the first time? Is it the first time you owe so much in taxes? How come you didn’t realize that your take home per pay period had increased by that much?
25k is an insane amount to owe at that income.

No, same amount last year and we owed $6k. So we adjust up and now here we are with $26k.

No investments minus 401(k).

[Anonymous]

Did you do your own taxes, or did you use an accountant? We make what you make, though our incomes are evenly split. I can’t even imagine a 25k bill.

[Anonymous]

Please tell me you are not doing your own taxes. A professional will do a better job and get more money for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please tell me you are not doing your own taxes. A professional will do a better job and get more money for you.

This is just not true. There’s nothing a professional can do that turbotax won’t do for $500-1500 less. Maybe if you are self-employed a professional will help but for most people there isn’t a lot of judgment that makes the software less effective

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you making that income for the first time? Is it the first time you owe so much in taxes? How come you didn’t realize that your take home per pay period had increased by that much?
25k is an insane amount to owe at that income.

No, same amount last year and we owed $6k. So we adjust up and now here we are with $26k.

No investments minus 401(k).

So did your paycheck show a big (huge) $1800 per month jump? That is the only thing that makes sense here in terms of the change in what is owed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you making that income for the first time? Is it the first time you owe so much in taxes? How come you didn’t realize that your take home per pay period had increased by that much?
25k is an insane amount to owe at that income.

No, same amount last year and we owed $6k. So we adjust up and now here we are with $26k.

No investments minus 401(k).

So did your paycheck show a big (huge) $1800 per month jump? That is the only thing that makes sense here in terms of the change in what is owed.

+1. Are you sure you are calculating this correctly? Did you compare your paycheck withholdings from this year versus the last tax year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did you do your own taxes, or did you use an accountant? We make what you make, though our incomes are evenly split. I can’t even imagine a 25k bill.

Part of the problem I bet is that the husband is being withheld at 0 for the first $12k and then 12% for the next $30k when he really should be being withheld at 24%. He probably should just quit if you are paying for childcare.

[Anonymous]

Are you positive you did your taxes correctly? At your income with just the standard deduction, you total tax should be approximately $36k, unless you have other income from capital gains or something? So between the two of you you’d have to have withheld only $10k for the year to have that kind of bill.

[Anonymous]

This doesn’t make sense. Even if no income taxes were withheld on the $40,000, the most that would be owed on that is $10,000 approx (24%). Hw much was withheld all year, OP?