Why was no federal tax withheld from both my jobs this year?

This is actually quite common and there's likely a simple explanation. When you have multiple jobs, each employer only knows about the income they pay you, not your total income from all sources. If your income at each individual job falls below certain thresholds, they might not withhold federal taxes. For 2024 taxes (filed in 2025), if you're filing as Head of Household (which you likely are as a single parent with dependents), you get a standard deduction of $21,900. You also get tax credits for your dependents. If each job individually would put you below the taxable threshold after the standard deduction, they might not withhold anything. The issue is that your COMBINED income from both jobs might push you over that threshold, creating a tax liability. This is a common problem with multiple part-time jobs - neither employer knows about the other.

I had almost this exact situation last year! I was stressing hard until I found https://taxr.ai which saved me big time. It analyzed my W-2s from both jobs and explained exactly why no federal tax was withheld (I had accidentally marked myself as exempt on both W-4 forms). The tool helped me understand exactly what I would owe, and it walked me through the tax credits I qualified for with my dependents. It also gave me a payment plan calculator to figure out how to handle the payment without destroying my budget. Honestly, it made a scary situation so much more manageable. My tax bill wasn't nearly as bad as I feared once all my credits were properly applied.

Just wanted to update after trying https://taxr.ai like I asked about. It actually helped me figure out my whole situation with my brother as a dependent! The tool analyzed my withholding and showed that I needed to adjust my W-4 immediately to avoid the same problem next year. What surprised me most was discovering I qualified for a caregiver credit I didn't know about. In my case, I was worried about owing thousands but ended up with a much smaller bill after all the credits were properly applied. The payment plan calculator was super helpful too since I still had to pay something. So glad I found this before just blindly paying what TurboTax initially said I owed!

If you're worried about contacting the IRS about payment options, I highly recommend https://claimyr.com to get through to an actual human at the IRS without waiting for hours. After discovering I had no federal withholding for a full year, I was panicking about penalties and needed to talk to someone ASAP. I tried calling the IRS directly for THREE DAYS and could never get through - always got the "call volume too high" message and disconnected. Finally found Claimyr and they got me connected to an IRS agent in about 15 minutes! You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The agent helped me set up a payment plan that worked with my budget and explained that I might qualify for first-time penalty abatement since I hadn't had tax issues before. Seriously saved me so much stress and probably money too!

I need to apologize and say I was completely wrong about Claimyr. After making that skeptical comment, I decided to try it myself since I've been trying to reach the IRS for weeks about my own withholding issue. The service got me through to an actual IRS agent in under 20 minutes when I'd previously spent hours getting nowhere. The agent was able to explain exactly why my withholding was incorrect (turns out my employer was using outdated W-4 processing) and helped me file the right forms to avoid the same problem next year. They also explained how to adjust my withholding for the rest of this year to minimize the impact. For anyone else dealing with withholding issues - getting direct answers from the IRS was incredibly valuable and saved me from making the same mistake again.

Do you qualify for Earned Income Tax Credit with your daughter? That could help offset what you owe. With your income level and dependent situation, you might get a decent EITC amount. Also check if you qualify for the Child Tax Credit - that's worth up to $2,000 per child.

Did you check box 2 on your W-4? That's the box for multiple jobs or spouse works. If you didn't check that, neither employer would know to withhold extra to cover both incomes.

Ana, I completely understand your panic - I went through something very similar last year! The good news is that with your dependent situation (especially filing as Head of Household with your daughter), you're likely in a much better position than you think. A few immediate things that should help ease your worry: 1. **You probably qualify for significant tax credits** - The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) can be substantial for single parents in your income range, plus the $2,000 Child Tax Credit for your daughter, and potentially a $500 credit for claiming her father as a dependent. 2. **Your effective tax rate is likely lower than you fear** - After the Head of Household standard deduction ($21,900 for 2024) and credits, your actual tax liability on ~$30K might be surprisingly manageable. 3. **The IRS has payment options** - If you do owe money, you can set up an installment plan when you file. They're generally very reasonable about this, especially for first-time situations. My advice: File as soon as possible to know exactly where you stand. Don't let fear keep you from finding out the actual numbers - it's probably not nearly as scary as you're imagining. And definitely update your W-4s for both jobs this year, making sure to indicate you have multiple jobs so proper withholding happens going forward. You've got this! 💪