It depends. If you had any self-employed income, no taxes are paid in unless sent directly by you. This can create a shortfall. Also, the withholding may still not be enough if the individual calculation did not consider both incomes. As more income is earned, the rate of tax increases as well. Therefore, if you would have been at one tax bracket if one income only was earned, together, your income could be pushed into the higher tax bracket. Only the amount in the next bracket is taxed at the higher rate. Just so you are prepared for next year, I recommend you find out where you stand now. It is not as difficult to pay in a little extra over all the paychecks the rest of the year than having to pay it out all at tax time. The IRS has a IRS Withholding Estimator that I strongly recommend for 2020. Here is a link to the 2020 Tax Brackets. The easiest thing you can do to prepare for the tax bill in 2020 would be to adjust your Forms W-4 with each of your employers by all the steps: Change the withholding from -0- Married to -0- Single Increase the amount you pay in taxes withheld for 2020 by at least the amount you owe. This is in addition to what is currently being withheld. Use the estimator half way through the year. Compare the projection with your Year to date taxes paid in. You get this information on your June 30 pay stubs. Adjust how much is taken out if you are shortAlternatively, go to the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System for the IRS and pay in a lump sum directly if you have self-employment earnings and do not want to withhold through your employers for it. For an example of how to decide how much to pay in taxes through the year: Taxpayer made $1,200. W-4 with zero, married paid in $80. Wife made $1,200. W-4 with zero, married paid in $80. Together, they actually owed $250 but had only together paid in $80 + $80 = $160. Total tax balance due was $250 - $160 = $90 owed For 2020, they each went to their employer and at the bottom of the W-4 told the employer to take out an extra amount. The extra amount in this example would be a total of $90 divided by the remaining pays left in 2020. If they each got paid once a month and had 9 months left in the year, they'd each have an extra $5 taken out each pay while still having the regular amount withheld.9 months x $5 = $45 each. $45 x 2 = $90This will get them to -0- tax owed if nothing else changed.

Question

I was wondering why me and my wife owe on our tax if we put zero down in the beginning of the year so we wont have to pay for tax but we ended up owing many anyway?

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March 27, 2020
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KathrynG3

It depends. If you had any self-employed income, no taxes are paid in unless sent directly by you. This can create a shortfall.

Also, the withholding may still not be enough if the individual calculation did not consider both incomes. As more income is earned, the rate of tax increases as well. Therefore, if you would have been at one tax bracket if one income only was earned, together, your income could be pushed into the higher tax bracket. Only the amount in the next bracket is taxed at the higher rate.

Just so you are prepared for next year, I recommend you find out where you stand now. It is not as difficult to pay in a little extra over all the paychecks the rest of the year than having to pay it out all at tax time.

The IRS has a IRS Withholding Estimator that I strongly recommend for 2020. Here is a link to the 2020 Tax Brackets.

The easiest thing you can do to prepare for the tax bill in 2020 would be to adjust your Forms W-4 with each of your employers by all the steps:

Change the withholding from -0- Married to -0- Single
Increase the amount you pay in taxes withheld for 2020 by at least the amount you owe. This is in addition to what is currently being withheld.
Use the estimator half way through the year. Compare the projection with your Year to date taxes paid in. You get this information on your June 30 pay stubs. Adjust how much is taken out if you are short

Alternatively, go to the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System for the IRS and pay in a lump sum directly if you have self-employment earnings and do not want to withhold through your employers for it.

For an example of how to decide how much to pay in taxes through the year:

Taxpayer made $1,200. W-4 with zero, married paid in $80.

Wife made $1,200. W-4 with zero, married paid in $80.

Together, they actually owed $250 but had only together paid in $80 + $80 = $160. Total tax balance due was $250 - $160 = $90 owed

For 2020, they each went to their employer and at the bottom of the W-4 told the employer to take out an extra amount.

The extra amount in this example would be a total of $90 divided by the remaining pays left in 2020.

If they each got paid once a month and had 9 months left in the year, they'd each have an extra $5 taken out each pay while still having the regular amount withheld.

9 months x $5 = $45 each. $45 x 2 = $90

This will get them to -0- tax owed if nothing else changed.