Taxes & W2 question

[footballmouse]

If anyone is an accountant that does taxes, would you be able to answer a question for me? Every year I have to pay usually state but this year I had to pay federal and not state. I know I'm doing something wrong for my withholding but I don't know what number I need to list for my paycheck. I'm single so I claim "head of household" and my kids are grown so I don't have dependents. I have a full time job and a part time job, I know this comes into play somehow. Any suggestions on if I should be entering a 0, 1, or 2? I usually do my own taxes thru TurboTax so I don't have a tax person to ask.

 

[soccerdad72]

The best way to be able to estimate this is by using a W4 Withholding Calculator, like the one on the IRS site:

https://apps.irs.gov/app/tax-withholding-estimator

Your part-time job is most likely the culprit, however, assuming you got a 1099 for that and no taxes were withheld. You can always decrease your exemptions from wherever you are now (2 down to 1, etc.), but it would also depend on how much your 1099 income fluctuates from year to year.

 

[footballmouse]

I received a W2 from each job. Is a 1099 for a contractor? I'll take a look at the calculator. I need the 2nd job for the income but I bet it's bumping me to a higher bracket.

 

[soccerdad72]

I received a W2 from each job. Is a 1099 for a contractor? I'll take a look at the calculator. I need the 2nd job for the income but I bet it's bumping me to a higher bracket.

Yes, a 1099 would be for a contractor. I wasn't sure if you were a part time employee or a contractor.

And yes, it's possible that the part time income moved you into the next tax bracket.

 

[disneychrista]

If anyone is an accountant that does taxes, would you be able to answer a question for me? Every year I have to pay usually state but this year I had to pay federal and not state. I know I'm doing something wrong for my withholding but I don't know what number I need to list for my paycheck. I'm single so I claim "head of household" and my kids are grown so I don't have dependents. I have a full time job and a part time job, I know this comes into play somehow. Any suggestions on if I should be entering a 0, 1, or 2? I usually do my own taxes thru TurboTax so I don't have a tax person to ask.

You need to change your W4 to Single, since you do not have any dependents that would qualify you as head of household. There is no 0, 1, 2, anymore.

There are worksheets on the W-4 to help you figure out what to claim on the second job. You likely need to have additional taxes deducted since the second job will assume that is your total income. There are also online calculators that can help you figure out what to have deducted.

 

[barkley]

I don't know if it's still permissable to do so but when I was working my CPA used to run the numbers each year (estimating any increased income/changes in deductions) and I would have to file one way for the feds and one way for the state I then lived in. if I filed one way across the boards I ended up owing one/getting a refund from the other.

 

[LuvOrlando]

When DH worked as a contractor taxes didn't pull properly. I dropped the question in Google and got this:


If you have another job you can have them pull extra in the form of voluntary withholding to balance it out so next year it isn't out of pocket.

 

[TAX GUY]

You're not Head of Household for tax purposes, which is why your withholdings are off. Change your W4 to "single" and don't fill in anything else. Your employer/payroll provider should now withhold at the higher amounts. Take a look at the current year or most recent filed year to determine your effective rate (not your marginal rate), then look at your paystub and divide the federal withholdings by the federal taxable wages. You want those percentages to be as close to each as possible.

 

[TAX GUY]

I received a W2 from each job. Is a 1099 for a contractor? I'll take a look at the calculator. I need the 2nd job for the income but I bet it's bumping me to a higher bracket.

That's not how the federal tax brackets work. Not ALL of your taxable income is taxed at the higher rate IF you have income that "bumps you into the next bracket". Only the amounts that exceed the limit of a that tax bracket, are then taxed within the next bracket.

 

[_19disnA]

Not an accountant, but I agree with what others have said. You get a W2 from any full-time job you have and that is where you can submit a W4 usually to HR/payroll to have more/less deducted so you come out closer to even. 1099 is the form relating to contractor work. Your filing status is 'single' not 'head of household' which make a difference in how the numbers turn out. Clearly if nothing is being withheld from your 1099 income, that would help explain why you end up owing more at tax time.

 

[soccerdad72]

That's not how the federal tax brackets work. Not ALL of your taxable income is taxed at the higher rate IF you have income that "bumps you into the next tax bracket”

I don’t think anyone claimed that all the income would be taxed at the higher rate.

 

[amcnj]

I used to know all the formulas and what effect on withholding making changes to your filing status and exemptions would cause. But for years now when I need to make an adjustment, I just increase or decrease the extra withholding amount I have taken out per pay. For example, if I owed the state or Feds 1200 this year, and have 26 pay periods per year, I would have an extra $50 withheld. The election to have extra withheld is available on my online W-4 screen.

Any extra can be withheld from just one of your jobs or both. I did once contact the payroll office of a part-time job to make sure my extra withholding wouldn’t cause any issues for them. The reason being it was an hourly position, and the hours could vary greatly, meaning one pay period might only have a few hours, and the gross be less than the extra withholding I desired. They said it was not an issue, and their system would adjust as needed. Apparently some deductions, like social security and Medicare and a few state deductions, are taken first, then the balance went towards the tax withholding. I did have one $0 net pay period there as a result!

 

[happily single]

Jumping in, as I’m also single with no dependents. Just this week I switched accountants. Old accountant had done my taxes since 2016 and I assumed everything was correct. He’s been filing my taxes as Head of Household since 2016. My youngest is 22 and has been fully independent since she turned 18. Within minutes the new accountant pointed out I could not be Head of Household if I had zero dependents.

 

[Allison]

Not an accountant, but I agree with what others have said. You get a W2 from any full-time job you have and that is where you can submit a W4 usually to HR/payroll to have more/less deducted so you come out closer to even. 1099 is the form relating to contractor work. Your filing status is 'single' not 'head of household' which make a difference in how the numbers turn out. Clearly if nothing is being withheld from your 1099 income, that would help explain why you end up owing more at tax time.

They don't have 1099 income. They are an employee at their second job.

 

[_19disnA]

These discussions tend to go in various directions. Others have pointed out that if you are an independent contractor, taxes are typically not deducted and you get a 1099 form at the end of the year showing your wages. W2 is provided by the company where you are employed. W4 is the form you can submit to make adjustments to your withholdings. Comments are intended for the OP as well as anyone else who might read this and not familiar with those terms/documents.

 

[footballmouse]

I'm going to check my 2025 filings and see how I filed and then check my W4 and see if I need to update that. Thanks for all the input!

 

[EACarlson]

I received a W2 from each job. Is a 1099 for a contractor? I'll take a look at the calculator. I need the 2nd job for the income but I bet it's bumping me to a higher bracket.

The second job and how you're withholding is set up that is the issue. The W4 for the second job has to be filled out differently as otherwise the calculations assume that it's the only job and will exempt the first portion of the income from taxes that isn't true as that exemption was taken from your primary. I have mine set up to pull additional from my day job in addition to being taxed as Single even though I'm married.