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

If you had no federal tax paid during the year then chances are that you will owe. My sister put the wrong number down on her W-2 once and didn't pay enough during the year and had to pay a little. I'm not sure if that will ring true for you, but I would have a professional check it out for you, you don't want to end up in trouble over a mistake. I'm no accountant, but something definately seems a little off.

Answer 3

Since you're claimed as a dependent, you'll owe taxes if you made more than $5150.