I made a mistake!?

Question

When I filled out my w-4's this last year for my job I put exempt at the bottom of the page and they didn't take out any federal or state withholding's. I was told exempt meant that nobody could take your taxes when you filed so I put exempt cause nobody is trying to take them so I didn't pay attention when I got my check and I just looked at my hours and I saw they took out money cause the gross was different from the amount of the check but I didn't notice at all. Will I get in trouble for this? I put exempt on my husbands also and his boss took out federal and state so I guess that is why I got confused. Anyone know how to go about this? My husband has to pay taxes cause he makes more but I hardly worked so I wouldn't have to pay. Am I in serious trouble? When I said try to take my taxes I meant like if collection's agency or other places want them cause you don't pay your bills. I do pay my bills!

Answer 1

Request through your payroll dept to fill in a new W4. That will prevent any future problem. The only trouble you would get into for tax year 2006 would be if you owe on the return, then if you were not able to pay what you owed by April 17th there would be penalties and interest charged on the balance owed.

Answer 2

If you don't have enough taxes (or any) taken out of your check during the year, you face a penalty for underwithholding. It will all depend on how big your tax bill is in relation to how much was withheld. If there was enough withheld from your husband's checks and you had a low income level, there might have been enough withheld to cover you both. Cross your fingers.

On a W4, claiming exempt tells your employer to not take any taxes.

On a W4, claiming 0 allowances tells your employer to take the maximum taxes out of your check.

Most people fall somewhere in between. There is a W4 calculator on www.irs.gov where you can enter your anticipated earnings, credits, and deductions for the year and it will tell you how many allowances to claim so that you will even out. You can set it so that instead of getting a big refund, you won't have so much tax taken out. Just make sure to revisit it everytime you get a raise or have anything that may impact your tax liability.

Your W4 settings do not necessarily reflect the exemptions you will claim on your taxes. For example: I am a single, renter with no dependents. However, I know that I will pay over $10,000 in tuition each year which will give me a $2000 Lifetime Learning Credit. I entered that information on irs.gov and it told me to claim Single with 4 allowances on my W4. I will only have a small refund when I file my taxes but it is better than letting the government have $2000 from me throughout the year.

Answer 3

If the amount withheld is less that the taxes owed by some number like 80% (no sure exactly) then you will owe an IRS penalty fee on that amount. Either way there is nothing you can do now but figure out how much you owe and make plans to pay it and the penalty on time.

Also fix the number of exemptions on your paycheck.

Answer 4

You are going to have to pay that money everyone has to pay fed and state. And if you do not pay it by a certain time you will be penalized. I am shocked that you did not notice your tax amounts. I always look at what they take out to make sure they did not take to much or to little. It does not matter how little you made you still have to pay taxes.

Answer 5

To claim exempt, I believe it asks for specifics as to why you are claiming exempt, because only in certain situations are you able to do so.

I would call and talk with an accountant. In the meantime, change your tax status at your place of employment.

Answer 6

It means who u claim, like yourself and kids
Or your hubby claims u on his taxes, it would be 2
If he claims u and himself, u should just put 0 on yours.
He can claim u as wife and get money back.