I am an independent 22 yr old male college student who goes to school full-time. I also work two jobs and between them make over $20,000/yr. I have done this for the last year and a half. Now my question is, even though I have have extra money taken out of every paycheck, my state and federal withholdings are always very little. On a $700 paycheck state maybe $18 and Federal maybe $50. At the end of the year, I always have to pay in so much that it is very difficult to cover the bill. What can I do to avoid this situation?

Fr_Chuck

First check what your withholdings are. Married, single, what.
Next how many dependents are you claining.

Also since you are working two seperate jobs, each check is fairly low, so they are taxing at that lower pay rate, they don't considered it as making more.

You can merely fill out a W4 and ask them to hold out 10 or 15 or more from each paycheck toward your taxes. Your personel manager should be able to help you, if not merely read though the W4 and refile with each employor according to your needs

AtlantaTaxExpert

About $9,000 of your money is tax-free (due to standard deduction and personal exemption). This assumes you claim yourself on your tax return.

I also assume you are claiming the tuition credit of about $2,000.

Fr Chuck's advice is good. Take the time to read the entire W-4 instructions and be sure you are claiming as a single person.