Employer failed to withhold federal taxes, now I owe $1700 - what options do I have?

This is definitely frustrating, but there are a few things to understand about this situation: First, while your employer should have withheld federal taxes based on your W-4, the legal responsibility for paying your taxes ultimately falls on you. The IRS considers this your obligation regardless of employer error. That said, you do have options. The IRS offers payment plans if you can't pay the full amount immediately. You can set up an installment agreement online for a small setup fee. For a $2,300 balance, you could spread payments over several months with minimal interest. You could also approach your employer about helping with this situation. While they're not legally required to pay your tax bill, some employers will recognize their error and offer assistance - either by covering part of what you owe or providing an advance to help you pay it. Going forward, always check your pay stubs carefully. The federal withholding line should never be zero if you're filing as single with zero dependents.

After dealing with a similar situation last year, I found this amazing tool called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that really helped me navigate my withholding issues. I was in the same boat - my employer messed up my withholding for several months and I was facing a huge unexpected tax bill. What I liked about taxr.ai is that it analyzed my pay stubs and W-2 and clearly showed exactly where the withholding errors occurred. It even generated a detailed report that I could take to my HR department to prove the mistake. The tool also helped me calculate how much should have been withheld compared to what actually was. It also has this feature that helps you adjust your withholding for the rest of the year to help make up for some of the shortfall. Definitely worth checking out if you're trying to figure out exactly what happened and how to fix it going forward.

I was totally skeptical about taxr.ai but decided to give it a try after my employer messed up my withholding classifications. Man was I wrong about being skeptical! The report it generated was super detailed and showed EXACTLY where my employer had miscoded my tax status. The best part was bringing this report to my payroll department. Instead of dismissing me (like they did the first time), they actually took it seriously when they saw the detailed analysis. They ended up giving me a bonus to cover about half of what I owed the IRS because they recognized their mistake was clearly documented. Even if your employer doesn't help with the taxes you owe, the peace of mind from understanding exactly what happened and how to fix it going forward was totally worth it. Plus the withholding calculator helped me adjust my W-4 so I'll actually get a small refund next year instead of another surprise bill.

If you're having trouble getting anywhere with your payroll department, you might want to try using Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) to get through to the IRS directly. I used it when I had a similar withholding issue and needed to discuss my payment options. Trying to call the IRS myself was a nightmare - waited on hold for hours only to get disconnected. With Claimyr, I had an actual IRS representative on the phone within 20 minutes. They have this system that navigates the IRS phone tree and waits on hold for you, then calls you when an actual human picks up. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The IRS agent I spoke with was actually super helpful and walked me through several payment options that I didn't know existed. They even helped me calculate what penalties I could potentially have waived given my situation. Definitely worth it when you need actual answers from a real IRS representative.

OK I need to apologize for my skeptical comment earlier. After dealing with yet another 2+ hour wait trying to reach the IRS myself yesterday (and getting disconnected AGAIN), I broke down and tried Claimyr. I'm honestly shocked - they got me connected to an IRS agent in about 25 minutes while I was just going about my day. I got a call, picked up, and there was an actual IRS representative ready to talk to me. The agent helped me set up a payment plan with much lower monthly payments than I thought would be possible. The agent also explained that I could file Form 843 to request an abatement of penalties (though not the actual tax) if I could document that the withholding error was entirely my employer's fault. This might save me a couple hundred dollars, which helps a lot with my situation. For anyone dealing with IRS issues, being able to actually SPEAK to someone makes such a huge difference in understanding your options.

You might want to check with your state's Department of Labor. In some states, employers have legal obligations regarding proper withholding. Save copies of your W-4 form if you still have it, along with all your pay stubs showing the lack of federal withholding. Also, ask your coworkers discreetly if they experienced the same issue. If your employer did this to multiple people, that strengthens your case that this was a systemic problem, not just a one-off error.

Your situation sucks but employers actually aren't legally responsible for paying taxes they failed to withhold. I've been a payroll manager for 12 years and have seen this happen before. Your best option is to: 1) File your taxes on time even if you can't pay 2) Set up a payment plan with the IRS 3) Adjust your W-4 for extra withholding this year to prevent a repeat Your HR person was totally wrong about college students not owing taxes though. That's complete nonsense.