So i just finally got a job (my first job) after being unemployed for 18 months after graduating college. I just received my first paycheck. My base pay is biweekly and is $3076.92
I am single, no kids, and live in Alabama.
federal tax is $589.77, and state and local taxes are $1626.90
My pay after taxes is $849
what did i do wrong?
If i did nothing wrong, then this sucks. I won't even be able to pay my student loans
Posted by LookingForWorkBSEE
12 Comments
Something is very wrong here. Post an image of your pay stub with personal info redacted.
No one knows what you did wrong based on this info you gave, but your state and local taxes are way too high. There’s absolutely no reason why they would be triple your federal taxes.
Your federal is high cause you are in the 22% bracket if filing single , and no child tax credit . States and local is wild no idea about that one
What does each line item read? That has to be a mistake by the payroll company. AL is a max 7% rate.
Did they have you fill out a separate W-4 for Alabama? That makes no sense. Seems like you filled it out wrong if so
$1626 for state and local taxes? Yeah, that is a red flag, unless you mistakenly put down the wrong amount for extra withholding for your state tax. I would get with your payroll department and make adjustments for your next pay period.
Your state and local are way too high. Does your paystub show what you are claiming? Do you know what you filled out for your state withholding? This could just be a payroll error
In no state are state and local taxes higher than federal taxes. There is an error here, either your company screwed up or you accidentally put a bunch of extra withholding on your W-4.
Did you included FICA (social security and Medicare) tax in your state and local tax?
I work in payroll, something is wrong and it is most likely because of how you filled out your W4’s when you were hired for state and local.
Your federal looks right but you need to get that state and local changed asap before the next payroll cycle gets processed. If you post a copy of your paystub we can probably see what you did wrong.
The state tax on that pay (assuming Single, no dependents) should be $127.
Alabama has a personal exemption of $1,500. This looks like $1,500 was entered for Additional Withholding instead of personal exemption.
Someone screwed up completing the A-4 or entering it into the payroll system.
Complete a new Alabama A-4. Enter your name, address, and SSN. Enter an ‘S’ on Line 2.
Fill out a new A-4 and w-4. Make sure you ask for help. Sounds like you put in $1500 for additional withholding and the payroll person just put the absurd number in there without asking questions.