Help needed - I claim zero on both my jobs but I still owe $600 federal and state ($1200 total)! How can I afford to pay this by April 15?

What's happening here is actually pretty common when you work multiple jobs. When you claim "0" on your W-4 at each job, each employer calculates your withholding as if that's your only income. The problem is that when you combine your income from both jobs, you end up in a higher tax bracket than either employer anticipated. For example, if you make $31,000 at one job, they withhold taxes based on you being in a certain tax bracket. Same with your second job at $21,000. But when combined, your actual income is $52,000, which might push you into a higher tax bracket overall. Going forward, you might want to use the IRS Tax Withholding Estimator online to figure out a better withholding strategy. You can actually request additional money be withheld from each paycheck by filling out a new W-4. For your current situation, don't panic! The IRS offers payment plans if you can't pay in full by April 15th. You can easily set up an installment agreement online for a small fee. You'll still need to file your return by the deadline, but you can pay the balance over time.

After reading your post, I had almost the exact same situation last year! Two jobs, claiming zero, and still ended up owing. I was so frustrated I spent hours researching and finally found taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) which helped me understand what was going on. They analyzed my W-2s and tax documents and explained that the withholding system doesn't communicate between employers. So even though I was claiming zero on both W-4s, neither employer was withholding enough because they didn't know about my other income. The tool showed me exactly how much extra I should have withheld from each paycheck to avoid owing next year. For this year, they helped me set up the right withholding amounts with a new W-4 for both jobs. Really made the whole multi-job tax situation make sense for the first time!

Just wanted to update after trying taxr.ai from earlier in this thread. I was skeptical but desperate about my multi-job tax situation. Uploaded my documents yesterday and wow - they showed me exactly where things went wrong with my withholding! Turns out even though I claimed "0" on all three of my jobs, I was STILL under-withholding by about $85 per paycheck. The explanation they gave about tax brackets finally made this click for me. They gave me specific numbers to put on my new W-4 forms for each job (they're all different amounts!). Already submitted the new forms to my employers so hopefully next year I won't be in this mess again. For this year's tax bill, I'm going with their recommendation to set up an IRS payment plan. Such a relief to have a plan instead of just panicking!

If you need to set up a payment plan with the IRS, I highly recommend using Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). I was in a similar situation last year - owed about $1800 I absolutely did not have. Tried calling the IRS myself to discuss options and spent HOURS on hold only to get disconnected twice. Claimyr got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 15 minutes! You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The agent helped me set up a monthly payment plan I could actually afford ($75/month). The relief of getting that sorted out was huge. Just make sure you file your return by April 15 even if you can't pay the full amount - that avoids the failure-to-file penalty which is much worse than the late payment penalty.

Coming back to admit I was dead wrong about Claimyr. After posting my skeptical comment yesterday, I was still desperate to talk to the IRS about my payment options, so I decided to try it anyway. Not only did it work, but I got connected to an IRS agent in about 20 minutes when I had previously spent 3+ hours trying on my own and never got through. The agent set me up with a 36-month payment plan that I can actually manage ($40/month for my $1400 balance). The whole thing was resolved in less than an hour. Wish I had known about this service years ago - would have saved me so much stress and frustration. Sometimes my skepticism gets the best of me!

Something similar happened to me last year. For multiple jobs, you might want to check box 2(c) on your W-4 which is specifically for multiple jobs. Also, have you checked if you qualify for any tax credits? With your income level, you might be eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit depending on your filing status and if you have any kids.

I know this doesn't help for this year, but for next year, adjust your W-4! The new W-4 doesn't use allowances anymore (the "0" or "1" system). Instead, you can put an additional amount to withhold on line 4(c). I had this same issue and started having an extra $50 taken from each paycheck, which fixed the problem completely.