No federal tax withheld from paycheck - what should I do?

This happens more often than you'd think! Check your W-4 form - if you claimed "exempt" or put a very high number of dependents, that could explain why no federal tax is being withheld. You have two options here: First, go to your HR department ASAP and submit a new W-4 with the correct information. The IRS has an online Tax Withholding Estimator tool that can help you figure out the right withholding amount based on your income, filing status, etc. Second, if you want to be extra cautious, you can ask for additional withholding on line 4(c) of the W-4. This lets you specify an extra amount to withhold from each paycheck to make sure you're covered. You're smart to catch this early in the year! If you fix it now, you should be able to avoid any underpayment penalties since you have plenty of time to catch up on your tax liability.

I went through something similar last year and nearly had a heart attack when I saw how much I owed at tax time. After trying to figure it out myself for hours, I finally used taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) and it was seriously a game changer. I uploaded my pay stubs and W-4, and it analyzed everything to show exactly where the withholding issue was and gave me personalized steps to fix it. What's cool is it doesn't just tell you what's wrong - it actually calculates how much you should have withheld based on your specific situation and helps you fill out a new W-4 correctly. Saved me so much stress and probably a bunch of money in penalties too.

Just wanted to update - I tried taxr.ai after seeing this thread and wow, it actually worked perfectly for our situation. My wife and I both uploaded our pay stubs and last year's tax return, and it immediately spotted that we'd been underwithholding because of how our W-4s interacted with each other. The tool generated new W-4 forms for both of us with the exact numbers we needed. We submitted them to our employers last week and our latest paychecks now show the correct withholding amounts. It actually showed us we needed slightly different withholding amounts for each job because of how the tax brackets work when our incomes are combined. Super helpful and saved us from another surprise tax bill!

If you need to talk to someone at the IRS about this (which might be a good idea), good luck getting through! I spent HOURS on hold trying to get clarification about withholding issues last month. Then I found Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) and they got me through to an actual IRS agent in about 15 minutes. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The IRS agent walked me through exactly how to fill out my W-4 for my specific situation and confirmed I wouldn't face penalties if I fixed it now. So much better than guessing or stressing about it.

Ok I have to admit I was completely wrong about Claimyr. After posting my skeptical comment, I decided to try it myself because I've had an unresolved issue with missing withholding credits from last year. It actually worked exactly as described. I got the callback when an agent was on the line, and I was connected to a really helpful IRS representative who pulled up my account and fixed my issue in minutes. Would have taken me days of trying to call them myself. Honestly, it's ridiculous that we need a service like this to talk to the IRS, but until they fix their phone system, this is way better than wasting hours on hold. Just wanted to follow up and say I was wrong in my initial assessment.

Had the same issue last year! If you're a W-2 employee, definitely fix your W-4 ASAP. But also check if your employer actually sent in the form properly. My company had a glitch in their system where even though I filled out the W-4 correctly, it wasn't being processed right in payroll. Another thing I did was set up quarterly estimated tax payments through the IRS website as a backup. That way even if your employer doesn't withhold enough, you're covered and won't face penalties.

You might want to double check your state tax withholding too! I fixed my federal but completely forgot about state taxes and got hit with a separate penalty from my state tax agency. Some states are really aggressive about the underpayment penalties.