Wrong county taxes being taken out?

[Callie]

I started with my current company at the beginning of 2014. I received a promotion that required relocating nearly 3 hours away.

Well, all of my paychecks for the last 6 months (since I've relocated), have had my previous county taxes taken out, and not my current county. My paystubs have the correct address listed and all. Will this hurt me come tax time?

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

*not a tax expert*

If where you physically worked changed, you should be taxed based on where you work now. I would contact payroll.

I imagine the is a means to correct it if it is wrong. But not sure.

 

[DebbieB]

I assume the new county is higher? Do you have to file a return? If you do, you will most likely have to make it up.

 

[figment52]

you will need t file two returns, one for the wrong county and request a refund of taxes collected and one for the right county and you will write a check to pay the taxes due.

 

[Callie]

Great, sounds like a lot of work.
I was going to contact our HR, but they are on vacation.

The taxes are pretty much the same, very, very slight difference.

Will it be more confusing considering I've worked in two different counties this year?

My mom is gonna have a blast.

 

[DebbieB]

Where I live, local taxes are on a municipality level rather than a county level. When I moved, I got 2 W-2's, one for each. The rate increased from 1% to 1.5% for my new location, so I made sure I reported my address change right away and that it was taken out correctly. I had a tax preparer do it with the rest of the my taxes, she just took the figures off the W-2's and filed 2 returns as even.

 

[morgan98]

I started with my current company at the beginning of 2014. I received a promotion that required relocating nearly 3 hours away.

Well, all of my paychecks for the last 6 months (since I've relocated), have had my previous county taxes taken out, and not my current county. My paystubs have the correct address listed and all. Will this hurt me come tax time?

I believe from previous posts that you live in Indiana. I am an Indiana CPA and still have several family members that I prepare Indiana state income taxes for.

That being said, county taxes are reported on your Indiana Form 1040, not a separate return. There is a section of the return where you have to list the county you worked in and the county you lived in a of a certain day of the year. Based on this information, you multiply your wages times the county's tax percentage. Any county tax withheld for the year is disclosed as county tax withheld.

The way it may matter is if the county you are currently live in has a higher tax rate than the county they withheld for. If this occurs, you may owe a little at tax time. However, the opposite could occur too. The tax rate in your old county could be higher which may result in you getting a small refund.

All of this is a long way of saying it does not matter what county they withheld for. Indiana will sort it out between the counties when the return is filed.

While this may be a small pain, try not to panic. The Indiana county tax rates are usually not that high and the differential between the county tax rates is usually less than half a percent.

 

[sam_gordon]

I'm in Kentucky, and I live in a different county from where I work. Those who live in the county my employer is in pay some more in taxes that I don't have to.

I say this to mention does it come down to where you LIVE as opposed to where you WORK?

 

[Arielle22]

I'm in Kentucky, and I live in a different county from where I work. Those who live in the county my employer is in pay some more in taxes that I don't have to.

I say this to mention does it come down to where you LIVE as opposed to where you WORK?

That depends on the state/locality. I have employees in PA. I have to calculate both worked in locality and lived in locality then withhold the higher tax.

In a small town in Michigan and in Cleveland, it is based on where you live.

 

[sam_gordon]

That depends on the state/locality. I have employees in PA. I have to calculate both worked in locality and lived in locality then withhold the higher tax.

In a small town in Michigan and in Cleveland, it is based on where you live.

That's my point. If the OP's taxes are determined by where she lives, a change in work location wouldn't have an effect.

HR should be able to answer this fairly quickly.

 

[tvguy]

Learned something today. I had never heard of county/city payroll taxes. Yikes, don't let my city and county hear about those. Just state and federal taxes come out of my check. There is a one half of one percent sales tax on everything but food though.

 

[LBIJim]

Learned something today. I had never heard of county/city payroll taxes. Yikes, don't let my city and county hear about those. Just state and federal taxes come out of my check. There is a one half of one percent sales tax on everything but food though.

I never heard of county payroll taxes either. I know our employees who work in a Philadelphia store have city income taxes withheld. The same for employees who LIVE in Philadelphia, no matter their work location.

 

[Will S]

I believe from previous posts that you live in Indiana. I am an Indiana CPA and still have several family members that I prepare Indiana state income taxes for.

That being said, county taxes are reported on your Indiana Form 1040, not a separate return. There is a section of the return where you have to list the county you worked in and the county you lived in a of a certain day of the year. Based on this information, you multiply your wages times the county's tax percentage. Any county tax withheld for the year is disclosed as county tax withheld.

The way it may matter is if the county you are currently live in has a higher tax rate than the county they withheld for. If this occurs, you may owe a little at tax time. However, the opposite could occur too. The tax rate in your old county could be higher which may result in you getting a small refund.

All of this is a long way of saying it does not matter what county they withheld for. Indiana will sort it out between the counties when the return is filed.

While this may be a small pain, try not to panic. The Indiana county tax rates are usually not that high and the differential between the county tax rates is usually less than half a percent.

You seem to know what you're talking about. In this situation, does the taxpayer need a W-2C or WH-4 that shows the correct county of residence? Or can you just simply make the correction on the 1040?

 

[morgan98]

You seem to know what you're talking about. In this situation, does the taxpayer need a W-2C or WH-4 that shows the correct county of residence? Or can you just simply make the correction on the 1040?

The address on your W-2 is really just for mailing purposes. It is up to the tax payer to be honest and list the correct county of residence and of employment on the tax return. That is what the calculations are based off of.

 

[kdonnel]

I would move if I had to pay a payroll tax for my county and or city.

 

[DebbieB]

FYI - the original post was 2 years ago.

 

[Mickeyluver37]

In Maryland we have county taxes but it's not a separate line on our pay like others (Pennsylvania especially has a TON of localities.) I WISH we had a city/town system and not a county one- mainly for the way school systems are set up differently in these states with smaller tax jurisdictions.

 

[MeltedWater]

I believe from previous posts that you live in Indiana. I am an Indiana CPA and still have several family members that I prepare Indiana state income taxes for.

That being said, county taxes are reported on your Indiana Form 1040, not a separate return. There is a section of the return where you have to list the county you worked in and the county you lived in a of a certain day of the year. Based on this information, you multiply your wages times the county's tax percentage. Any county tax withheld for the year is disclosed as county tax withheld.

The way it may matter is if the county you are currently live in has a higher tax rate than the county they withheld for. If this occurs, you may owe a little at tax time. However, the opposite could occur too. The tax rate in your old county could be higher which may result in you getting a small refund.

All of this is a long way of saying it does not matter what county they withheld for. Indiana will sort it out between the counties when the return is filed.

While this may be a small pain, try not to panic. The Indiana county tax rates are usually not that high and the differential between the county tax rates is usually less than half a percent.

I know this is an old topic, but thanks so much for this answer. I live in Indiana, and recently got a new job for a company I worked for before YEARS ago (different location). I left the old location on bad terms, so on the application I said I hadn't worked for the company before, and figured they wouldn't notice. But when I got my first check, I was paying taxes for the county I used to live in! I am afraid to tell them about it because I could easily get fired over lying on the application. Seems that Indiana will sort it out and I don't have to worry.

 

[kaytieeldr]

How many years ago? More than 10-15 (the recommended timeline for a resume (especially chronological), it wouldn't matter.

 

[marlynnp]

How many years ago? More than 10-15 (the recommended timeline for a resume (especially chronological), it wouldn't matter.

She lied on her application.