Wife and I both claim 0 on our W-4s but still owe $1,100 ($450 State, $650 Federal) - makes no sense?
So my wife and I have always been told that if you claim 0 on your W-4s, they take out the maximum amount of taxes from each paycheck. We've both been doing this for years thinking we'd get a refund, or at least break even. Well we just finished our taxes for 2024 and somehow we owe $1,100 total - $450 to the state and $650 to the federal government! Like, what the actual hell? How can they take "maximum withholding" all year and we STILL owe money? It's not going to break us financially or anything, but I'm just super annoyed and confused about how this works. If 0 allowances doesn't cover us, what are we supposed to do? Claim negative numbers? Pay extra every month? This tax system makes no damn sense to me. We both work full-time, no kids, no major life changes this year. Anyone else run into this problem or know why this happens?
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Santiago Diaz
The old W-4 system with "allowances" (0, 1, 2, etc.) was replaced in 2020 with a completely different format. The current W-4 doesn't use allowances at all, so claiming "0" isn't really a thing anymore. There are several reasons you might still owe despite thinking you were withholding enough: 1. If both you and your spouse work, there's often a "two-income household" issue. Each employer withholds as if that job is your only income, not knowing about the other spouse's income. This pushes your combined income into a higher tax bracket. 2. You might have other income that isn't having taxes withheld (investments, side gigs, etc.) 3. You may have lost some deductions or credits you previously qualified for. The solution is to fill out a new W-4 with your employer. On Step 2 of the current form, there's specifically a checkbox for "two jobs/spouse works" that addresses this issue. Alternatively, you can use the IRS Tax Withholding Estimator online to get a more precise recommendation.
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Riya Sharma
•Thanks for the detailed response. I actually had no idea they completely changed the W-4 system. We haven't updated ours in several years so I guess we're still on the old system? The two-income household thing makes total sense now that you explain it. We both make similar salaries so I guess the withholding from each job isn't accounting for our actual tax bracket when combined. Is there a way to just tell them to take out an extra specific amount each paycheck instead of trying to calculate all this?
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Santiago Diaz
•You're exactly right about still being on the old system if you haven't updated your W-4s in several years. The withholding tables have changed, but your instructions to your employer haven't. Yes, you can absolutely specify an additional amount to withhold on each paycheck! On the new W-4 form, Step 4(c) lets you enter an additional amount to withhold from each paycheck. You could calculate the $1,100 you owed divided by the number of pay periods (for example, $42 extra per paycheck if you're paid biweekly) and have that additional amount withheld. This is often simpler than trying to perfectly calculate the two-income adjustment.
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Millie Long
When I was dealing with this exact same issue (both my husband and I working and still owing despite claiming 0), I found taxr.ai really helpful. I uploaded our past returns and current pay stubs to https://taxr.ai and it actually analyzed our withholding situation and recommended exactly how much extra we needed to withhold per paycheck. What I like is that it specifically looks at two-income households and shows you how to fill out the new W-4 form correctly. Saved us from owing again this year since we implemented the changes back in January.
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KaiEsmeralda
•Does it work if you have other income too? Like I have my main job but also do some freelance work on the side. Would it factor that in too or just the W-2 income?
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Debra Bai
•I'm always skeptical of these tax tools. How accurate was it compared to what a human tax pro would tell you? And does it update if tax laws change during the year?
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Millie Long
•It absolutely handles other income sources! When you upload your documents, you can include information about freelance or 1099 income. It then factors that into the withholding recommendations and even helps with estimated tax payments for the non-W-2 income. The accuracy was really impressive compared to what my accountant recommended. When I showed him the withholding adjustment recommendation, he said it was spot on. And yes, they update their calculations whenever tax laws change - they sent me an email in July when some regulations shifted and suggested a small tweak to my withholding for the second half of the year.
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KaiEsmeralda
I tried taxr.ai after seeing it mentioned here and it was exactly what I needed. I've been dealing with this same problem for years - my wife and I both claiming 0 (or what we thought was the maximum withholding on the new forms) and still owing every April. The tool analyzed our specific situation and showed we needed to withhold an extra $83 per paycheck for me and $67 for my wife. We've been doing that for a few months now, and I just ran our projected numbers through their calculator again - looks like we're on track for a small refund instead of owing this time! What I really appreciated was how it explained WHY we were underwithholding despite thinking we were doing everything right.
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Gabriel Freeman
This is so common with two-income households! When I was trying to fix our underwithholding issue, I needed to talk to someone at the IRS about some specific questions for our situation. Spent DAYS trying to get through their phone system without success. I found this service called Claimyr that actually gets you through to an IRS agent typically within 15 minutes. I was skeptical but desperate - tried https://claimyr.com and watched their demo at https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. They somehow bypass the hold queues and actually connected me to an IRS rep who walked me through exactly how to fix our W-4s. The IRS agent confirmed what others have said - the "claiming 0" approach is outdated, and with two similar incomes, you need to use the multiple jobs worksheet or specify additional withholding.
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Laura Lopez
•How does this actually work? Like how do they get you through when the IRS phone lines are completely jammed? Sounds like magic or something shady.
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Victoria Brown
•Yeah right. Nothing gets you through to the IRS faster. I've tried everything and ended up waiting 3+ hours. This sounds like a scam that just takes your money and puts you in the same queue as everyone else.
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Gabriel Freeman
•It uses a system that continuously redials and navigates the IRS phone tree until it secures a spot in the queue. Once it gets through, it calls you and connects you directly. It's basically doing what you'd do manually but with automation. It's definitely not magic, just smart technology. They explain it all on their site, but basically they have a system that knows exactly how to navigate the complex IRS phone menus and when to call for shorter wait times. I was connected in about 12 minutes when I had been trying for days on my own.
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Victoria Brown
I have to eat my words. After posting my skeptical comment, I decided to try Claimyr anyway since I was desperate to get an issue resolved before filing. It actually worked! Got connected to an IRS agent in about 20 minutes when I had been trying unsuccessfully for weeks. The agent confirmed everything about the W-4 withholding issues others mentioned here. She explained that with two similar incomes, you're almost guaranteed to underwithhold unless you specifically account for it on your W-4. She walked me through exactly how to fill out the new form and how much extra to withhold per paycheck. Saved me from owing next year for sure!
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Samuel Robinson
You might also want to check if both your employers are withholding the correct STATE tax amount. I had this exact issue where federal withholding was fine but my employer was using the wrong state withholding table (they were using a neighboring state's rate which was lower). Took me three years to figure out why I kept owing state taxes despite withholding "correctly".
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Riya Sharma
•Hmm, that's a really good point. I never even thought to check that. How would I verify if they're withholding the correct state amount? Just compare my pay stub percentages to my state's tax rates?
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Samuel Robinson
•The easiest way is to look at your last pay stub from the year and check the state withholding total. Then use your state's tax calculator (most state tax department websites have one) and enter your total income. Compare what you should owe versus what was withheld. Another approach is to check if the state code on your W-2 is correct - there should be a state code in Box 15. Make sure it matches your actual resident state. I've seen employers accidentally use the wrong state code, especially for remote workers.
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Camila Castillo
For what it's worth, my spouse and I just always add an additional $25 each per paycheck for withholding and it covers us. Simple solution that's worked for 5 years now. No complicated calculations needed.
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Brianna Muhammad
•This really depends on your income level though. $25 extra per check might work great for you guys but would be way too little for higher incomes and too much for lower incomes. It's not a one-size-fits-all solution.
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