My withholdings were at the single rate, but it says I owe taxes?

Anytime taxpayers do not withhold enough money based on their earnings and their overall tax situation, they may owe taxes at the end of the year. Since we cannot see your return and determine exactly why you may owe this year, it would be best for you to do a line by line comparison of your return.  

Generally, there are a lot of factors that could affect your tax refund or amount due from year to year. Some of these reasons are:

• Less income tax was taken out of your earnings
• You were in a higher tax bracket due to earning more money
• You child turned 17 and no longer eligible for the Child Tax Credit and are now receiving the Credit for Other Dependents
• You no longer qualified for the Earned Income Credit
• You paid off your student loan and cannot deduct any student loan interest
• You are no longer eligible for education credits
• You took on an additional job
• You sold investments
• You had a distribution from a 401k that was not related to Covid-19
• You had a change in filing status
• You got unemployment and not enough taxes were taken out

It is recommended to use the W-4 Calculator to determine the best withholding for your tax situation.