J Ă˜ E
|
The KEYWORD here is W-4. The lower number of exemptions that you have claimed on your W-4, the more your payroll personnel will take out for Federal Income Tax. SS & Medicare are pretty much a given though, and when you get older, you will see evidence of this because the Social Security Administration will send you a letter explaining how much you have contributed and what you are eligible for if something were to happen to you.
But the W-4 is what is used to determine Withholding. It doesn't matter how much you make. As a teenager working at Mickey D's, they still took out Federal Withholding from my measley $4.25 an hour paycheck.
And be careful working for anyone who doesn't do ANY withholding and gives you a 1099 at the end of the year. I've seen people owe the IRS a few thousand dollars and they only made about $10K because there was NO withholding.
Please do NOT take the advice of anyone who says it depends on how much you make. There is a LOT more to it then that. Most of the answers you got so far are from people "speculating" about tax law. |
|
AJ
 |
This is prefectly normal.
Federal tax will only be withheld if you earn above a certain amount. Unlike SS, and medicaid which is applied to all wages regardless of amount. |
|
hrblock.laura
|
Income tax withholding is based on the amount of your income, how often you are paid and how you filled out your W-4 when you were hired. By the low amount of income you have it is very understandable that your situation is correct.
If you want to have withholding, you can file a new W-4 with your employer and have an amount of extra tax withheld per pay period.
Laura H – H&R Block – Senior Tax Advisor 5
**This advice was prepared based on our understanding of the tax law in effect at the time it was written as it applies to the facts that you provided. |
|
tessaa99
 |
As already stated, taxes are being withheld as required for the situation you stated.
On the W-4, you can indicate a flat, additional amount to withhold weekly. This means, even if you make $20 for the week, they'll still withhold this amount of federal. You can do just $5 if you want. If you plan on reporting tips on your tax return that you did not report to your employer, or if you have taxable income elsewhere, you definitely want to consider putting away an extra little bit.
You always want to consider what your future plans are. If you suddenly get a really great paying full-time job, you may be bumped up into another tax bracket for all of you wages for the year. Again, another situation where you may just want to tuck a couple dollars a pay period extra into federal.
Don't use your federal withholding as a savings account though. If you are not planning on changing your financial situation this year, tuck that $5 a week into a savings account, like at a credit union. You'll earn a couple cents interest every month, and it will be available in case of emergencies. Then...the hard part...keeping it there for REAL emergencies. Tax refunds are great, but you CAN save your own money to have a spring shopping trip or little vacation to reward yourself.
Also, if you ever have questions about what should be withheld, you can use a paycheck calculator online.
http://www.paycheckcity.com/NetPayHRatesCalc/netpayHRatescalculator.asp |
|
Kaiela
|
Yes thats would I would think too and you are smart to question it. My daughter had a situation where somehow she got no taxes taken out at all for a whole year and she not old enough to realize it. She probably was thinking wow I'm getting really big checks, but she did'nt realize there were no taxes coming out and she was making pretty good wages. When i did her taxes she owed 1500.00. She called her employer to see if there had been some mistake and her employer told her that thats the way she had filled out the w4 but really i think they must have mde a mistake and my daughter didn't catch it. OOPPS. |
|
Carol P
|
Normally, one is not required to pay taxes until you reach the minimum limit - the amount can be found at IRS.GOV. There are other reasons why you may not have to pay taxes at a income that is below the minimum, but be aware you can still have a refund coming to you - dependent on the facts of your life; ie, age, children, etc. It would be helpful to use one of the free online tax preparations programs. |
|
. .
|
As a mater of law, they only withhold what they anticipate you will owe based on your W-4 data.
Your return coming out even is how it's supposed to work. In fact, there are penalties for "over-withholding." |
|
paul
|
You can check it yourself. Get a tax booklet (1040A) and compute your tax for the entire year if you wages remain the same. If you do not own any taxes by your figures than there is no need to pay. It would be just a loan to the government and you would need to file a return. If however you may work other jobs or have other income (interest from a bank or whatever) then you should ask them to change your withholding to 0 dependents and they will then begin taking some taxes out of your wages. This in a normal and legal way to adjust your taxpayer withholding. |
|
quizzard123
|
Tax deductions are based on calculations which consider (for each pay check) what that would result in for total income for the year. Each is done separately, and assumes your income will be the same for the entire year.
With such low checks, the formulas will not result in any tax owing, so none is deducted. You do still pay SS, Medicare etc. |
|
hrblockrichardk
 |
Yes, this is very normal. If you are paid $150 every 2 weeks, then your total annual pay will be about $7800. If you have no other income and are single, then no federal income tax will be due. The federal withholding tables (available at www.irs.gov) are based upon this and therefore do not lead to any withholding for you.
As you point out, however, payroll taxes are being withheld as required.
Richard K
This advice is based upon the law in effect at the time it was written as applied to the facts described by you. See my profile for more details. |
|
LaLaNH
 |
here's what happens:
On every paycheck, most software that calculates the taxes multiplies your federal taxable wages (your wages per hour x number of hours, then reduced by any 401k or retirement or health deductions that are considered pre-tax) by the number of paychecks you get in a year.
Then, that annualized amount is compared to the annual tax tables as published in IRS Publication 15, also called the Circular E. The tables give up the annual amount of tax to be paid on that annual federal taxable wage amount, and divide the amount by the number of paychecks you get in a year to come up with the amount to take out of your check. This calculation is done every week.
Social security and medicare are always taken out of your wages (or at least for SS, until you reach a certain very high amount, which as a part timer you probably don't have to worry about).
So - yes. Short answer after all that is that you are not making enough to prompt federal tax to be withheld. If you work more than one job like that, you may very well have enough total income from both sources, and will have to pay taxes when you file. To prevent that, ask your payroll office(s) to withhold a little for you anyway. They will give you a W4 form to fill out. Have them withhold 10$ per paycheck and you should be ok, may even get a refund. |
|
Shuoink
|
yeah if checks arent too large its possible they might not be taking any out of the checks, if thats the case though you might end up owing some at the end of year since none was payed during the year... |
|
Asfg M
|
Yes because that's under the minimum wage |
|
Tyler D
|
Yes, this is normal. If you start making more money then Federal taxes will be held, but based on your current earnings, you will likely not owe any federal taxes at all. |
|
krollohare2
|
You have to earn more than the minimum for the tax year before they start taking withholding out of your check. Its usually past your personal deduction and standard deductions. Probably anything under $9,000 is tax free except for 1 percent medicare and social security contributions. |
|
Laredo
 |
Tell your HR department that you want to file an IRS W-4 form. That's the form required for tax withholdings and lists the number of dependents you are claiming. They have to send a copy of it to the IRS. It sounds like they don't want to be bothered with paying their share of the taxes. Since they are holding out some but not all of your taxes, you may need to request a statement from Social Security to see that your SS taxes are being credited to your account. Are they holding out State Income tax? Something dishonest could be going on.
You have the right to insist that they withhold taxes from each paycheck so you don't get stuck with a large tax bill when you file your Income Tax return. |
|
JenniT
 |
Federal tax is based on income. I have had jobs previously and did not have federal withheld. It's ok, you did not do anything wrong and you will not get in any trouble. You may qualify for EITC...I'm not sure of your situation...but you may get "extra" money from the IRS. Check out this site....
http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=96406,00.html |
|
guest
 |
I used to not have to file taxes when I was making minimum wage and I worked part time. |
|
Shay B
 |
This happened with my boyfriend. And he wasn't getting his federal taxes taken out, so we looked over his check and we saw that they put his marital status as married. And when you're married they don't take any out, which means no money for you in the long run. Just check your marital status on your check, they might've screwed it up. |
|
Cynder
|
Yes, that is normal. I work part time while I am in school and that happens to me at times as well |
|
mattdgonz
|
This may be due to the fact that you are under the standard deduction. In the United States, income only starts to be taxed above a certain amount, depending on several factors including, but not limited to:
(1) Your marital situation
(2) Number of kids
(3) Business expenses
(4) Other deductions
What this means is the federal government allows you to earn this tax-free. It is part of our progressive taxation system. People earning lots of money pay higher and higher percentage rates as it goes on.
Other possibilities may include the type of work you do, or other factors. Your job accountant, assuming he/she is competent, can be trusted, as can your W2. That is what the IRS sees.
Also, in some fields taxes are not accrued. |
|
Laissez-Faire Guy
|
It's true. The payroll deduction tables assume this is your only paycheck, so if the amount is small, the gov't knows you will owe no taxes, and thus will not have any tax deducted from your check.
I have a part time job that pays $300 per month, and no federal income tax has ever been taken out.
SS, Medicare and the like are not based on your annual income, but based on a percentage of every dollar you make, so they are taken out. |
|
monique w
|
YOUR RIGHT, U SHOULD CHECK TOO SEE IF YOU FILED EXEMPT.. THAT'S THE ONLY WAY FED WILL TAKE NOTHING OUT OF YOUR CHECK HUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
|
Miss Mae
|
When President Bush put in his tax cuts it lowered the amount people owe. If you don't owe tax because you are not making much then you should be okay. I always claimed 0 deductions when I didn't have deductions. If the accountant says you don't owe you should be okay. I know the IRS is a horrible scary thing. |
|
Lee
|
I can guarantee you the same people who are asking you why your concerned; would be the same people asking you why didn't you look at your checks if the gov. was asking you to pay back taxes! It's normal to not have fed or state taxes taken out if you make below a certain amount. |
|
ja3202
|
true if you dont make that much they wont take anything out but i make about 137 a wk and they still take out taxes so you might want to change ur status on ur tax thing to single with like no dpendents to ensure they take taxes out |
|
fosho my mofo
|
yes |
|
chicago2210
|
If it is above a cir-ten amount then it will come out of your check. If it is bellow a cir ten amount then the answer is no. |
|
panti-slave2006
|
yes...this is not unusual, if your gross earnings per pay period do not reach the threshold level for Federal Withholding.
FICA-OASDI (Social Security) is levied on the first $97,500 of regular income
FICA-HI (Medicare) in charged on every dollar of income, regardless of how much you earn |
|
withluvmariaxo
|
sounds pretty normal. nothing wrong.but good luck:] |
|
flat5263
 |
roughly speaking, if you are one person, $10,000 a year won't be taxed. $20,000 if you and a child. $30,000 if married and child (3 dependents). won't get any federal deductions, because you won't have any tax due on so little income. |
|
Mrs. ZZZ
|
2009 I had Federal taxes withheld for 3 months, then no federal taxes for the rest of the year. 20l0 no federal taxes withheld for the hold year. 20ll Federal tax was withheld on my first new year check. I had the same $l9l.00 every 2 weeks since 2009. Suddenly my first pay check of the new 2011 year had federal taxes withheld. Soon I will have to file my tax return. Will I end up paying big bucks to the federal? I do not have money to pay for taxes. Will my employer just shrug their shoulders and say "OOPS, MY BAD!" ? I get direct depost to the bank, when I get a copy of my pay stub, I just file it away so I never noticed about deductions. |
|
| |
|
Homepage 
Financial
Forum 
Taxes 
No Spam
Adult 
Gambling
Unfinished
Deception
Plagiarism
Not English
