16 year old son got first job at grocery store - no federal taxes taken out of paycheck?
So my son just received his first paycheck ever from his new job at the local grocery store and I noticed something weird. They took out state taxes, Social Security, and Medicare but there's no federal income tax withholding at all. Is this normal for a teenager's first job? He's 16 and just started working last week. The paycheck is for about $285 for 23 hours of work. I'm used to seeing federal taxes taken out of my own paychecks so I'm confused if this is an error or if there's some special rule for minors? Any insights would be super helpful!
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Diego Castillo
This is actually normal! When your son filled out his W-4 form (the tax withholding form), the payroll system is probably calculating that he'll earn below the standard deduction threshold for the year. For 2025, someone can earn up to $15,000 (approximate standard deduction) without owing any federal income tax. If he's only working part-time and won't make more than that threshold for the entire year, the payroll system correctly isn't withholding federal income tax. State taxes have different thresholds which is why you still see those being withheld, and Social Security and Medicare (FICA taxes) are required regardless of income level.
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Ruby Knight
•Thanks for the quick response! That makes sense now. So if he ends up picking up more hours over the summer and goes over that threshold, will the system automatically start withholding federal taxes at that point?
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Diego Castillo
•The payroll system should eventually start withholding federal taxes if his cumulative earnings approach the threshold, but it's not always perfect. If he unexpectedly earns more than planned, you might want to have him submit a new W-4 and specifically request additional withholding. This is especially important if he works multiple jobs since each employer won't know about his other income. If he stays under that $15,000 threshold for the year, he won't owe federal income tax regardless, but it's good to monitor his earnings if he starts working more hours than originally planned.
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Logan Stewart
This happened with my daughter too! Found a super helpful tool called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that analyzed her paycheck and confirmed everything was correct. I was totally confused by the withholding stuff, but their system explained exactly why there were no federal taxes taken out and showed what the threshold is before they'd start withholding. It even predicted what her tax situation would look like if she worked more hours. Way easier than trying to understand IRS publications!
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Mikayla Brown
•How exactly does that work? Does it just look at one paycheck or does it need a bunch of personal info? My son is about to start his first job and I want to make sure everything's set up correctly.
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Sean Matthews
•Sounds interesting but isn't that just what the IRS withholding calculator does? Is there anything special about it that makes it worth using instead of the free government tools?
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Logan Stewart
•It's really simple - you just upload a picture of the paycheck or earnings statement and it breaks everything down line by line. It's way more user-friendly than the IRS calculator and explains things in plain English instead of tax jargon. For your specific question about the IRS tools, I found taxr.ai actually gave clearer explanations about teenager-specific tax situations including dependent status impacts and exactly how much they can earn before different taxes kick in. It also helps with planning for the whole year so you don't get surprised at tax time.
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Mikayla Brown
Just wanted to give an update! I tried out taxr.ai after asking about it here and wow - super helpful for my situation! My son just got his first job too and I uploaded his first paycheck. The analysis confirmed that the zero federal withholding was correct and explained exactly what thresholds would trigger federal withholding. It even calculated how many hours he could work at his current wage before hitting the standard deduction limit. Definitely helped put my mind at ease since I was worried his employer had made a mistake!
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Ali Anderson
Speaking from experience, you might want to double-check everything is set up correctly. When my daughter started working, they had her W-4 filled out wrong. After 3 months I noticed no federal taxes were being taken out but she was definitely going to exceed the threshold for the year. Spent WEEKS trying to call the IRS to confirm what we should do. Couldn't get through to anyone! Finally used https://claimyr.com (saw their demo at https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c) and they got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 20 minutes. The agent confirmed we needed to submit a new W-4 with additional withholding requested.
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Zadie Patel
•How does Claimyr actually work? Do they just call for you or what? Seems weird to have a service just to talk to a government agency we should be able to reach anyway.
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A Man D Mortal
•This seems sketchy tbh. Why would you need a service to call the IRS? I've gotten through to them before by just calling early in the morning. Sounds like you're just advertising something nobody needs.
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Ali Anderson
•They essentially hold your place in the IRS phone queue and call you when they're about to connect you with an agent. You don't have to sit on hold for hours, which was impossible with my work schedule. I totally get the skepticism - I felt the same way! But after trying to get through for weeks during my lunch breaks and constantly getting the "call volume too high, try again later" message, I was desperate. It was worth it to finally get clear answers about my daughter's withholding situation directly from the IRS, especially since incorrect withholding could have meant a big tax bill surprise.
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A Man D Mortal
I have to admit I was completely wrong about Claimyr. After my skeptical comment, I decided to try it anyway because I've been trying to reach the IRS about my son's SS card issue affecting his first job tax setup. I'd called 7 times over 2 weeks and never got through. The service actually worked exactly as described - I got a call back in about 25 minutes with an IRS agent on the line. We sorted out the documentation issue in one call. I was 100% sure it would be a waste of time but it literally saved me hours of frustration. Sometimes you have to admit when you're wrong!
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Declan Ramirez
You should double check what your son put on his W-4. My daughter started at Target last year and checked the box for "student" which apparently meant no federal withholding would happen. We didn't realize until tax time that she should have had federal taxes withheld all year because she ended up earning almost $18k over the summer and holiday season.
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Emma Morales
•Wait there's a student checkbox that stops federal withholding??? My 17yo checked that box but she's definitely going to make more than the threshold this year. How do we fix this?
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Declan Ramirez
•There's not actually a "student" checkbox on the new W-4 forms - I was referring to the old forms. The current W-4 is completely different and uses steps rather than allowances. What your daughter needs to do is submit a new W-4 to her employer. If she's going to earn more than the standard deduction (around $15,000 for 2025), she needs to make sure she hasn't checked the box in Step 1(c) about having only one job, unless that's actually true. She should also consider putting an additional withholding amount in Step 4(c) to make up for any under-withholding that's already happened.
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Katherine Hunter
The key thing to watch is how much your son will make for the ENTIRE year. My daughter worked at McDonald's starting at 16 and didn't have federal taxes taken out at first, but once she hit about $8,500 for the year, they automatically started withholding federal taxes. If he's only working a few hours a week, he might stay under the threshold. But if he works full-time in summer and holidays, he might end up owing some federal tax.
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Lucas Parker
•This is good info but I don't think the system automatically adjusts like that. My son worked at a movie theater last year and they never withheld federal taxes even when he went over the limit. We had to pay at tax time. Probably depends on the employer's payroll system.
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Donna Cline
Your son might have filled out the W-4 incorrectly. I'm a summer camp counselor and the first year I worked, I didn't understand what "exemption from withholding" meant, so I accidentally checked that box. No federal taxes were taken all summer and I had to pay it all at tax time. Make sure your son didn't check any exemption boxes on his W-4!
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Ruby Knight
•That's a good point! I'll have him check with HR to see exactly what he put on his W-4. He said they just handed him a bunch of forms to fill out on his first day and he wasn't really sure what some of them meant. Better to catch any mistakes now rather than at tax time!
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Alina Rosenthal
Great advice from everyone here! Just to add another perspective - this exact situation happened with my nephew last year. The no federal withholding was correct initially, but what caught us off guard was when he picked up extra shifts during Christmas break. His earnings jumped significantly in December and suddenly he was going to owe federal taxes. What we learned is that it's worth having a conversation with your son about tracking his total earnings throughout the year. Maybe set up a simple spreadsheet or even just a note on his phone where he logs his paychecks. That way if he's approaching that $15,000 threshold, you can proactively have him submit a new W-4 to start withholding before he gets too far over the limit. Also, even if no federal taxes are being withheld, he should still file a tax return to get back any overpaid Social Security/Medicare taxes if his total earnings end up being very low. A lot of teenagers don't realize they might be owed a refund!
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Rajiv Kumar
•This is such helpful advice about tracking earnings! I never thought about having my son keep a running total. The spreadsheet idea is perfect - I'm definitely going to help him set that up this weekend. One question though - you mentioned he might be owed a refund on Social Security/Medicare taxes if his earnings are very low. I thought those were always required regardless of income level? When would someone get those back?
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