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srondone · Jan 19, 2011, 12:58 PM

Since I started my full time, 40 hour per week, job in March 2010 I have not had one single cent taken out of my Federal or CA State taxes. I am Married and I claim 2 on my Tax form. My HR does not have any useful information for me, he claims I make the cut off for making a limited amount of money per year based on some chart. But, I have made less money at previous jobs and have ALWAYS had FEDERAL and CA tax taken out of each paycheck. Year to date is still 0.00 for both. Why is this??

ebaines · Jan 19, 2011, 01:36 PM

The amount of withholding is based on your annual pay rate, whether you are mared, and the number of allowances you claimed on your W4. Being married you probably claimed 3 allowances on your W9. If you have children you add one more for each child. Each exenption is worth $3700/year off you taxable income. So multiply $3700 by the number of allowances from your W4, and subtract that from your annual wages. If the result is less than $7,900 your employer has no need to deduct federal taxes. But if it's more than $7900 he should be withholding.

srondone · Jan 19, 2011, 01:41 PM

I get approx in between $1,200 to $1,300 per month. So annually about 15k per year assuming I get $1300 per month. I multiplied the $3700 that you mentioned by 2 which is what I claim and I got $7400. I subtracted 7400 from the 15k and I got 8,200.
I don't know what all this means. I am so confused and my HR can't help me. I am being told to wait until my tax return comes in.

ebaines · Jan 19, 2011, 02:11 PM

You have it right (almost). Your taxable income is $15,000 - 2 x $3,700 = $7,600. That figure is below $7,900, so your employer has no requirement to withhold federal income taxes.

AtlantaTaxExpert · Jan 19, 2011, 09:57 PM

Srondone:

If you are married or claiming Head of Household, you will owe ZERO taxes if the $15,000 is your annual income.

If you have children, you will be getting a LARGE refund due to the Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Credit, so it is best that NO taxes are withheld because...

ANY REFUND IS AN INTEREST-FREE LOAN TO THE GOVERNMENT, be it the U.S. or California state government.

srondone · Jan 19, 2011, 10:10 PM

Thank you both for the helpful information! All I can do is wait to receive my W2 / Tax Return and see how much I owe. This was the first time a job has not taken out CA or FED taxes from mu paychecks.
I will make sure it is fixed and correct for 2011 !