I have a work-study job with minimal taxes withheld. Am I going to owe money? ..........?

Question

I am trying to do my taxes with TurboTax. It claims I owe about $600. (I think, it says "Federal Tax Due $678", "Deduction Tracker $5, 150) If anyone could explain this better to me I would appreciate it. I live with my father and am 22 years old, he claims me as a dependent and pays my tuition out of pocket. I know he is receiving money back for that. Does this mean I am going to end up oweing? My W-2 claims I had $0 of federal tax withheld. Does this sound right, or am I doing something wrong? Should I go see an accountant? This is my first time using this program but it seemed pretty straightforward. If anyone could help me, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks.

Giro

Answer 1

Without information about how much you earn, any answer is a guess. Assuming you copied your W-2 into TurboTax correctly, I will guess it is probably correct. $678 Federal income tax works out to $6800 taxable income. With the standard deduction and no personal exemption, That is about $12,000 gross income.

Your withholding is determined by what you put on your W-4. If you claimed more than 2 allowances at that income level, zero withholding is correct. Change your W-4 to claim '0' or '1'. Claim '1' will result in owing about $50 next year.

If your income was not close to $12,000, my advice is not accurate.

Answer 2

You didn't give enough information. However these are the rules:

You are a dependent of your father's if the following tests are met
1. Relationship - a child qualifies.
2. Joint Return - Are you married? You cannot file a joint return or be eligible to file a joint return.
3. Age - You must be under 19 years old OR under 23 and be a full time student for some part of 5 months of the year.
4. Residency/Citizenship - You must be a citizen of the US or a resident of the US, Canada or Mexico
5. Gross Income - Your Gross income must be less that $3,300. (Children are automatically considered to have met this test).

In addition to the above tests, You could not have provided more than half your own support.

Based on the information you gave, it sounds like your father can claim you as a dependent.

Unfortunately, only one person is able to claim your exemption so your father gets it.

Also, your standard deduction is the Higher of $850 or your earned income+ $300, but not more than the regular standard deduction.

So it is possible that Turbo Tax calculated your tax amount correctly.

Answer 3

If it is work study, I think you do have to pay taxes. Now if it was a grant or a loan, you wouldn't