Federal Income Tax Missing from Michigan Paycheck - W4 Problem?
Hey everyone, I'm pretty new to the whole adulting thing with my first real job in Michigan. I noticed something weird on my last few paychecks - they're taking out social security, medicare, and Michigan state income tax, but there's NOTHING being taken out for federal income tax. I did some googling and found stuff about claiming 0 or 1 on my W4 form, but honestly I have no clue what I put when I filled out my paperwork. I was in a hurry that day and probably just checked whatever boxes looked right. If this keeps happening and no federal tax comes out of my checks, am I going to get slammed with a huge tax bill when I file next year? Do I need to fix this ASAP? Any help would be super appreciated!
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Emma Johnson
You definitely need to update your W4 form with your employer right away. What likely happened is you either claimed "exempt" on your W4 or you claimed too many allowances, which is telling your employer you don't expect to owe any federal taxes. If you continue without federal tax withholding, yes, you'll owe all of that tax when you file your return next year. Depending on how much you earn, this could be thousands of dollars, plus you might face underpayment penalties if you owe more than $1,000 at tax time. Ask your HR department or payroll person for a new W4 form. For 2025, the W4 doesn't use allowances anymore - it's a completely redesigned form. Just fill it out accurately with your current situation (single, one job, no dependents I'm assuming) and they should start withholding the correct amount from your future paychecks.
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Liam Brown
•If I'm in a similar situation but I've already gone 3 months without federal withholding, should I be worried about penalties? And is there any way to make up for the missed withholding, or do I just have to deal with owing money at tax time?
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Emma Johnson
•If you've only gone 3 months without proper withholding, you can still avoid penalties by fixing it now. The IRS generally looks at your total withholding for the year, so if you start withholding the correct amount now, you might be fine. For making up missed withholding, yes, there's a solution. When you fill out your new W4, you can specify an additional amount to withhold from each paycheck (Line 4c on the form). Calculate roughly how much you should have paid so far, divide by remaining pay periods this year, and add that amount to your regular withholding.
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Olivia Garcia
After dealing with a similar issue last year, I discovered taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) which helped me figure out exactly what was happening with my withholdings. I uploaded my paystub and W4 info, and it showed me that I had accidentally checked "exempt" when I shouldn't have. The tool also calculated exactly how much I needed to withhold for the rest of the year to avoid underpayment penalties. It saved me from what would have been a $3,400 surprise tax bill!
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Noah Lee
•How does taxr.ai actually work? Like do I need to have my W2 from last year or just my current paystubs? My situation is kinda complicated because I work 2 jobs.
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Ava Hernandez
•Sounds interesting but is it actually accurate? I've tried those tax calculators on other sites and they're always way off compared to what I actually end up owing.
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Olivia Garcia
•For multiple jobs, that's actually where it's super helpful. You can upload paystubs from both jobs and it analyzes your withholdings across them. You don't need last year's W2, but if you have it, it makes the predictions more accurate by factoring in your tax history. The accuracy is what surprised me too. Unlike basic calculators, it uses actual IRS tax tables and formulas to calculate withholding. It also accounts for things like the standard deduction and tax brackets correctly, which is why it was able to catch my mistake when I didn't realize I was withholding way too little.
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Noah Lee
Just wanted to update - I tried taxr.ai like someone suggested here and wow it's legit! I uploaded my paystubs from both jobs and discovered I was massively UNDER-withholding at my second job because of how the W4 works with multiple employers. The system showed me exactly how to fill out both W4 forms correctly so I don't get hit with a huge bill. It even generated the forms for me to give to HR. Super helpful for someone like me who's confused by all this tax stuff!
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Isabella Martin
If you need to talk directly to the IRS about your withholding situation (which I had to do last year), don't waste hours on hold. I used https://claimyr.com and they got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 15 minutes instead of the 3+ hours I spent trying on my own. There's a video showing how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. The agent was able to tell me exactly what I needed to do to fix my withholding and avoid penalties for the missing payments from earlier in the year.
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Elijah Jackson
•Wait, how exactly does this work? They somehow get you to the front of the IRS phone queue? That seems too good to be true.
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Sophia Miller
•This sounds like a scam. Nobody can magically get you to the front of government phone lines. The IRS is understaffed and everyone has to wait. You probably just got lucky with timing or something.
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Isabella Martin
•It's not about getting to the "front" of the line. Their system basically waits on hold for you, and when an actual IRS agent picks up, it calls you and connects you. You don't have to sit there listening to hold music for hours. They use an automated system that maintains your place in the queue without you having to be on the phone yourself. Think of it like a restaurant pager that buzzes when your table is ready, except for phone calls. It saved me an entire afternoon of waiting on hold last tax season.
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Sophia Miller
I need to eat my words. After posting my skeptical comment, I decided to try Claimyr because I've been trying to reach the IRS for 3 days about my own withholding issue. I was SHOCKED when I got a call back in 47 minutes connecting me to an actual IRS agent. I was able to get specific guidance about my withholding situation that I couldn't find anywhere online. The agent confirmed I needed to file a new W4 AND make an estimated tax payment for the amount I was under-withheld so far. Worth every penny for the time saved!
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Mason Davis
Something similar happened to me in my first job. You should also check if you're classified as an independent contractor (1099) rather than an employee (W-2). If you're a 1099, they won't withhold ANY taxes and you're responsible for paying quarterly estimated taxes yourself. Your pay stub will give you clues - if you don't see any tax withholdings at all (not even Social Security and Medicare), you might be misclassified.
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Faith Kingston
•Thanks, but they are definitely taking out Social Security and Medicare, plus state tax for Michigan. It's just the federal income tax that's missing. I think I must have messed up my W4 somehow. Going to talk to HR tomorrow!
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Mason Davis
•That's good then! Definitely just a W4 issue. When you talk to HR, ask them to calculate how much federal tax you should have paid year-to-date so you can plan ahead for what you'll owe. Also ask about updating your W4 to include extra withholding on Line 4(c) to make up some of the difference over your remaining paychecks.
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Mia Rodriguez
Don't panic too much! I had the same issue my first year working (also in Michigan). I fixed my W4 halfway through the year and had them take out extra each check to catch up. If your income isn't super high, you might only owe a few hundred dollars at tax time, not thousands. If you're making under $30K as a single person, your tax liability is fairly low because of the standard deduction.
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Jacob Lewis
•This is misleading advice. Even at lower income levels, federal tax can be significant. Standard deduction for 2025 is projected around $13,850 for single filers, but if OP is making even $35K, they'd still owe about $2,300 in federal tax. That's not a small amount to come up with all at once!
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