Why aren't state and federal taxes being taken out of my paycheck?

Question

Okay, I received my first paycheck from my job. On my W-4 I claimed married, 1 dependent. There is really 4 of us in my family but I prefer to overpay and get more of a refund on my taxes. But, when I got my paycheck no state of federal had been taken out. My check was $560 before medicare and SS was taken out. Can anyone tell me what the problem is. Should I file differently on my W-4?

Answer 1

How often do you get paid?  If you're paid weekly, you aren't making enough to owe any tax.  If you are paid weekly, something should have been withheld, and you should talk to your payroll department.

Answer 2

ask your employer why no taxes were taken it sounds like a mistake to me

Answer 3

Maybe you did not earn enough during the pay period to require withholding.  If that represented a month's pay, there would be no tax, but if it was for one day, then it would be enough to withhold.  However, if you got paid monthly and started one day before the month ended, then it would be considered a month's pay.

Answer 4

Sometimes, it's because you don't make enough money for them to take out taxes and plus you put married with a dependent so that's like 3 exemptions. So, you might want to just put married with no dependents if you want them to start taking out taxes, and also talk to your human resource department about it soon, before your W2's come out because it will be too late then.

There's also an option on the W-4 for you to take out additional money.

Answer 5

You possibly didn't earn enough to have federal and state taxes taken out.  If you wish to overpay, you may have to scale back, claim no dependent, then even try single if that first step doesn't work.  If you have a good HR dept, they can help you see all the possible outcomes before you choose.  

Unless this is the only way you'll save, you're better off having most of the money come to you.  Uncle Sam doesn't pay interest, so if you can put the same amount of $ in a savings account, you'll do better.

Good luck.  

Answer 6

Go to http://www.paycheckcity.com/netpaycalc/n...

and type in your basic information ,salary, dependents and other.... and it will give you a breakdown of how much should be taken out of your paycheck.  Then you can see if your employer is making a mistake. Check it out ,its a great site for calculating your paycheck.Its called paycheck city.