Great advice from everyone here! I just want to add one more tip that saved us some stress last year - if you're planning to split payments across different dates (not just different methods), make sure both payments are completed well before the April deadline. We made our first payment in early April and planned to make the second one closer to the deadline, but then got busy with work and almost forgot. The IRS doesn't send reminders for partial payments, so you need to keep track yourself. Also, if you're using a credit card for part of the payment, double-check the processing time. Bank transfers are usually instant, but credit card payments can take 1-2 business days to process. Don't want to accidentally miss the deadline because of processing delays! Setting up those IRS online accounts that @Anastasia mentioned is definitely worth it - you can see exactly when each payment hits your account and confirm everything is applied correctly.

Just wanted to share my experience as someone who's been splitting tax payments for the past few years. My spouse and I typically owe around $10-12K each year, and we've developed a system that works really well for us. We always make one payment from our joint checking account for about 70% of what we owe, then use a rewards credit card for the remaining 30%. Even after paying the processing fee (usually around 1.87% for credit cards), we still come out ahead with the cash back rewards. One thing I learned the hard way - always screenshot or save the confirmation page for each payment! The IRS emails you a confirmation, but I've had those emails get lost in spam filters before. Having that backup saved me hours of searching through old emails when I needed to reference a payment. Also, pro tip: if you're making payments close to the deadline, do the credit card payment first. Bank transfers from checking accounts process faster than credit cards, so if there are any processing delays, you want the slower payment method to go through first. The payment system really is flexible once you understand it - we've used different combinations of both our SSNs over the years and never had an issue with payments being misapplied.

Has anyone tried both the IRS withholding estimator and TurboTax's W-4 calculator? I'm wondering which one is better for someone with large medical deductions like the original poster.

I went through this exact same situation last year with major medical expenses from a surgery, so I totally understand your confusion! The W-4 changes a few years back definitely made it more complicated. Here's what I learned after making some mistakes initially: You need to estimate ALL your itemized deductions for the year (medical expenses above 7.5% of your AGI, plus any mortgage interest, state/local taxes, charitable donations, etc.). Then subtract the standard deduction amount from that total. Only put the difference on line 4(b) of the W-4. With $27,000 in medical bills, a good chunk of that should qualify as deductible once you apply the 7.5% AGI threshold. Don't forget you can also include mileage to/from medical appointments and prescription costs. One tip that saved me: keep really detailed records of everything medical-related this year since you'll likely continue having follow-up appointments and expenses. I use a simple spreadsheet to track dates, amounts, and what each expense was for. Makes tax time so much easier! The instructions really are confusing - you're not alone in feeling lost by them. Take your time working through the calculations and don't hesitate to adjust your W-4 later in the year if your situation changes.

Just want to emphasize what others have said - this is definitely something to address right away! I went through a similar situation last year where I had no federal withholding due to an error on my W-4, and it cost me big time at tax season. Even with your $5,500 dependent claim (which sounds reasonable for two kids under 17), you should still see a federal tax line on your paystub. It might show $0, but the line should be there. If it's completely missing, that's a red flag. Here's what I'd recommend doing immediately: 1. Look at your pay stub again and check for any line that might say "FIT," "Fed Tax," "Federal W/H," or similar - sometimes the labeling isn't obvious 2. Contact your HR/payroll department and ask them to verify your W-4 was processed correctly 3. If needed, submit a corrected W-4 form The good news is that with two young kids, you'll likely qualify for substantial Child Tax Credits that could offset much of your tax liability. But it's still better to have some federal tax withheld throughout the year rather than potentially owing a large lump sum. You can always adjust your withholding again if too much is being taken out once you get it sorted. Don't wait on this - the sooner you fix it, the less you'll potentially owe come tax time!

I've been following this thread closely because I'm actually a tax preparer and see this exact issue come up frequently during tax season. What you're describing - having Social Security and Medicare taxes withheld but no federal income tax - is definitely not normal for a W-2 employee. Here's what's most likely happening: When you filled out your W-4 and claimed $5,500 for your dependents, that amount should have been entered in Step 3 of the form (Child Tax Credit). However, if this was processed incorrectly or if you accidentally marked "Exempt" in Step 4(c), it would explain why no federal tax is being withheld. Even with legitimate zero withholding due to your dependent claims, you should still see a federal tax line on your paystub showing $0.00. The complete absence of this line usually indicates a processing error. My advice: Contact HR immediately with your most recent paystub and ask them to show you exactly what W-4 information they have in their system. With two kids under 17, you'll get $4,000 in Child Tax Credits, but depending on your income level, you might still owe additional taxes beyond what the credits cover. Don't wait - the longer this goes unfixed, the bigger potential tax bill you're looking at next April!

This has been such an informative thread! As someone who's been lurking on this sub for a while but just created my first Patreon last week, I'm realizing I need to get my tax situation sorted out from the beginning. One thing I'm curious about that I haven't seen mentioned yet - what about the fees that Patreon takes? They charge processing fees and their platform fee, so if I technically "earn" $100 but only receive $91 after fees, do I report the $100 or the $91? I'm assuming it's the gross amount before fees, but I wanted to double-check. Also, can those Patreon fees be deducted as business expenses? Seems like they should be since they're a cost of doing business, but I want to make sure I'm thinking about this correctly. Thanks to everyone who's shared their experiences - this community is amazing for helping newcomers navigate all this stuff!

This thread has been incredibly valuable! As someone who's been doing freelance graphic design for a few years but just started getting into content creation, I had no idea about so many of these tax implications. One thing I wanted to add that might help other creators - if you're doing both freelance work AND content creation (like Patreon, YouTube, etc.), you can actually combine all your self-employment activities on one Schedule C rather than filing separate ones for each income stream. This can be really helpful for maximizing your business expense deductions since you can pool expenses that benefit multiple aspects of your creative business. For example, my computer, software subscriptions, and home office are used for both my client work and my tutorial content, so I can deduct the full amounts rather than trying to split them between different schedules. Just make sure to keep good records showing how expenses relate to your various income sources. The separate business bank account advice is spot on too - I set mine up two years ago and it's made tax time so much less stressful. I even got a business credit card that I use exclusively for creative expenses, which makes tracking even easier since all my deductions show up on one monthly statement. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences, especially about the quarterly estimated taxes - that's definitely something I need to start doing as my content income grows!

I'm in almost the exact same situation - we owe from 2022 due to my husband's side business and have been on a payment plan since October. Reading through everyone's experiences here has been incredibly helpful and honestly a bit of a relief to know what to expect. What I'm taking away from all of this is: yes, they'll definitely take the refund, but it's actually not the worst thing that could happen. It sounds like most people ended up shortening their payment timeline significantly, which saves money on interest in the long run. I'm definitely going to take the advice about screenshotting our current payment plan details before filing and adjusting our withholding for 2024 so we don't have to go through this again next year. The tip about calling a few weeks after the offset to make sure it was applied correctly seems really important too, especially given all the stories about their systems not updating properly. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences - it's made this whole situation feel much more manageable knowing what to expect and how others have navigated it successfully. Sometimes the unknown is scarier than the actual reality!

I'm in a similar situation right now and have been researching this extensively while waiting to file our 2023 return. Based on everything I've learned from the IRS website and speaking with a tax professional, yes - they will absolutely take your refund even though you're making payments on time. The Treasury Offset Program operates completely independently from your installment agreement. Here's what you should expect: Your refund will be automatically intercepted and applied to your outstanding balance, your monthly payment amount will stay the same, but your total number of payments will decrease significantly. The tricky part is their systems are notoriously slow to update - most people report waiting 4-8 weeks before their online payment portal reflects the new balance. My advice based on what I've learned: File as soon as you have all your documents (no point in delaying since the offset is inevitable), screenshot your current payment plan details before filing for your records, continue making your regular monthly payments exactly as scheduled even after the offset happens, and call the IRS about 3 weeks after you see "refund applied to past due obligation" to verify it was credited correctly. The silver lining everyone mentions is real - you'll be debt-free months or even years earlier than originally planned, which saves significant interest over time. Think of it as a forced accelerated payment rather than losing money you were entitled to. It's the same debt either way, just paid off faster!