Sorry if all this is obvious. I get nervous about messing this stuff up, but I started a new job and filled out my W4. I’m married filing jointly with my wife. So I checked that box. Then in part 3 it asks about dependents. We have 3 kids and make like 140k added together so I believe I do 3 times 2,000 for 6,000 total.
Anyway I fill this out and fast forward 2 weeks and my check is bigger than my wife’s who works at the same place I do but makes more money than I do so that was odd. I look and no federal tax is coming out. Just state, retirement and Medicare and such.
My only thought is that this is me getting child tax credit basically added to all my checks through the year instead of in my tax return? Does that mean we won’t get that in the return later? Or does it mean I’m gonna owe a bunch? Usually we get like 5k in returns do to the child tax credit. Just wanna know if I’m messing something up. Sorry if this isn’t what this sub is for!
New Job not taking out anything for federal tax
byu/BlackGabriel intax
Posted by BlackGabriel
6 Comments
Did you talk to payroll or HR?
I’ve been having the same exact problem for the last 5 years. I noticed federal doesn’t take out anything or a small percentage of my check and HR doesn’t know why. I even put 0 dependents and it still didn’t work. So I have to manually have federal take out a certain amount at every job I work. It’s so annoying and I can’t figure out why this can’t be fixed. I calculate my own earnings and deduct 11% and that’s what I have federal take out. Sometimes a little more just to be on the safe side.
>My only thought is that this is me getting child tax credit basically added to all my checks through the year instead of in my tax return?
Basically, yes – the W-4 works by estimating your total tax situation based on your entries, and then withholding just enough to cover that amount. You didn’t say exactly how much you make, but with the MFJ setting and $6k child tax credit, there should be no tax withholding until your taxable gross was roughly $1625/week.
>Does that mean we won’t get that in the return later? Or does it mean I’m gonna owe a bunch?
Probably. If you were the only person working in your household, your W-4 would be pretty accurate and you would either owe a tiny bit or get a tiny refund at tax time. But, you *aren’t* the only person working. If you and your wife have each put the kids down on your W-4s, the withholding is calculating as though you will have $12,000 in child tax credits, not $6,000. You can allocate the child tax credits between the two forms however you want, as long as the two W-4s total to $6,000.
And you need to split the MFJ deduction and brackets by each checking the “2 jobs” box OR selecting Single/Married Filing Separately.
(Finally, the money you get back in April is called a refund. Your return is the form you file.)
And yes if you don’t fix it, you will owe a ton of money at the end of the year.
1. Did you ALSO read the instructions for Step 2, Multiple Jobs or Spouse Works? If not, that’s why your withholding is off. You must complete that step if you select MFJ and have a working spouse.
2. Does your wife also claim any of the child tax credit? You can split the $6,000 however you want between the two of you as long as the TOTAL claimed is $6,000 (basically — don’t both put $6,000 here, because then you are claiming $12,000 together).
It sounds like you’re claiming the entire standard deduction for a married couple and the entire child tax credit, instead of splitting both of those with your wife.
Fill out a new W4 with the “two jobs” box checked and halve the number in part 3.
>My only thought is that this is me getting child tax credit basically added to all my checks through the year instead of in my tax [refund]? Does that mean we won’t get that in the [refund] later?
Yes. That’s how it’s supposed to work. A refund is just the government giving back money you overpaid above the amount of tax you owed. Unless you’re really bad at saving your own money, you should WANT that money in your bank earning interest all year.