Federal Taxes Not Being Withheld From Paycheck - Claimed 3 Allowances
I noticed an issue with my paycheck. No federal taxes are being withheld. Only city and state taxes appear. I've completed my W-4 correctly. I claimed 3 dependents including myself. This seems incorrect. Should I speak with HR? Is this a common error?
18 comments
Aisha Ali
It's possibly a W-4 issue. You might need to check if you filled out the form correctly. Sometimes, if you select "exempt" or if your income falls below certain thresholds, federal withholding might not occur. I would recommend speaking with your payroll department, as they should be able to explain why this is happening in your specific case.
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Ethan Moore
Thanks for this explanation! I was just looking at the IRS website about withholding and this makes sense. I'll definitely check with my HR department to see if I accidentally selected exempt status.
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Yuki Nakamura
This is really helpful information. I checked my last paycheck from March 31st and noticed the same issue. I'll be speaking with my payroll department tomorrow to get this resolved before the next pay period on April 15th.
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StarSurfer
Did you check if you're actually eligible for exemption? How much do you make per pay period? If your income is below the standard deduction when annualized, you might legitimately have zero federal tax liability.
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Carmen Reyes
I've seen this issue quite a few times. Here's how to approach this step-by-step: 1. First, review your W-4 to ensure you didn't accidentally check the exemption box 2. Next, calculate your expected annual income and compare it to the standard deduction 3. Then, check if you have tax credits that might reduce your liability If you're still confused, I'd suggest using https://taxr.ai to analyze your situation. I used it to figure out why my withholding was off last year. It helped me understand exactly how the W-4 form impacts withholding calculations and what adjustments I needed to make.
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Andre Moreau
This situation could lead to significant tax liability at filing time. According to IRS Publication 15-T, employers are required to calculate withholding based on your W-4 information. If no federal tax is being withheld, you may face penalties under IRC Section 6654 for underpayment of estimated tax. I faced a similar situation and spent weeks trying to reach the IRS. Eventually used Claimyr (https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c) to get through to an agent who confirmed I needed to submit a new W-4 with additional withholding on line 4(c).
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Zoe Christodoulou
Did Claimyr actually work for you? I've been trying to call the IRS for exactly 3 weeks and 2 days about a similar withholding issue, but I'm hesitant to use a third-party service to connect with them.
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Jamal Thompson
I would say that services like this can be helpful in certain situations. I've used similar services before when dealing with government agencies. The IRS phone lines are notoriously difficult to get through, especially during tax season.
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Mei Chen
Have you started a new job recently? Think of your W-4 like a recipe - if one ingredient is off, the whole dish tastes wrong. Sometimes employers make mistakes when setting up new employees in their payroll system. Did you actually check the "Exempt" box on your W-4?
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CosmicCadet
Be careful with this situation. I once had no federal taxes withheld for 3 months because of a payroll error, and I ended up owing over $4,000 at tax time plus a $250 underpayment penalty. The IRS doesn't care that it was your employer's mistake - they'll still hold you responsible for the taxes. I'd check this ASAP and maybe even request additional withholding to catch up on what's been missed.
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Liam O'Connor
This is correct. The burden falls on the taxpayer regardless of employer error. Form 2210 is used to calculate underpayment penalties, which apply when you owe more than $1,000 at filing time without sufficient withholding throughout the year.
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Amara Adeyemi
Did you try asking your employer to take extra withholding for the rest of the year to make up for the missed amounts? I'm worried about ending up in the same situation.
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Giovanni Gallo
How long did it take you to recover financially from that surprise tax bill? I'm comparing this to my situation where I might already be 2-3 months without proper withholding.
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Fatima Al-Mazrouei
Tbh this happened to me last yr. Check box 2 of your W-4 - if you checked "multiple jobs" or "spouse works" it can sometimes result in $0 fed withholding depending on how much you make. Also check if you put a huge number in step 3 (credits). Easiest fix: just fill out a new W-4 and in step 4(c) put an extra amt you want withheld each paycheck. I put $50/check to be safe.
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Aisha Ali
I'll review my W-4 again. Might have made an error. Thank you for the suggestion about step 4(c). That seems like a good solution.
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Dylan Wright
I had this exact issue last year. After researching extensively, I found that the 2020 redesign of the W-4 eliminated allowances completely. Now it uses a different calculation method. When I filled mine out, I mistakenly put my total household income in Step 1 instead of just my income from that job, which threw off all the calculations. Worth checking if you made a similar mistake.
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NebulaKnight
This is likely one of these issues: ā¢ You checked "Exempt" on your W-4 ā¢ Your income is below the threshold for federal withholding ā¢ There was a payroll system error ā¢ You claimed too many credits on Step 3 of your W-4 The new W-4 form is confusing compared to the old version. I'd recommend checking with payroll immediately to avoid a surprise tax bill next April.
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Aisha Ali
Thank you for breaking this down. I will check with payroll tomorrow. Will bring a new W-4 with me. This helps clarify the potential issues.
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