my wife worked for the local university here in Texas last fall as a student aid and lab lecturer while pursuing here master’s degree. For this she earned the princely sum of $1,800 ($300), When I got the W-2 I noticed she had nothing taken out in box 2 (fed tax withheld). She only got a very little taken out for FICA (though I understand student workers in Texas pay reduced or no FICA typically)
When I pointed this out to her she said that the payroll person said since she earned so little she did not need any taxes taken out. Was this true or am I going to have to fork out a few hundred extra dollars because she wasn’t withholding? I’m earn a decent amount of money so I figure I’m going to owe
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I’m no accountant, tax or otherwise, but if her total income for the year is $1800.00, no way does she owe any tax. Just look a the tax tables. In fact, she may qualify for EIC (Earned Income Credit) and get back taxes she never paid, depending on other circumstances (other income in the household, for example)
Yes, the withholding assumes that she is going to file separately, so when you file jointly you’ll have to shell out. If Mrs. Greenteeth is going to do the same job next year, she (or you) should file a new W-4 requesting a level of withholding that will guarantee no additonal tax.
Anyone who is single with no dependents and who makes less than $7,800 doesn’t pay tax. The AGI is $0. Standard deduction is $4,750 and your exemption for yourself as a dependent is $3,050. $600 per month works out to be $7,200 per year. So no withholding.
Ya, but she had a full time job before going back to school, so she earned more than enough for the year, not to mention that I work full time. It’s not a lot of money, but it is a pain.
I thought employers HAD to withhold for earning more than a couple hundred $ a month. I didn’t think there was an option not too.
For this year, a single person claiming 1 witholding allowance (themself) can be paid up to $480/month and have zero Federal Income tax Witholding (“FITW” in the trade). The same person doing witholding as married with 2 allowances (self+spouse) can be paid up to $920/month and have zero FITW.
If you are going to be filing jointly, it makes sense to pay attention to the W4 forms you file for each job each of you have. The basic form assumes one person having exactly one job for all year. If that’s not true for you (and it’s not true for nearly everyone nowadays), then a little attention to the fine print and extra scenarios in the instructions can pay dividends.
If you haven’t experimented with it, I have to say the IRS has one of the more useful government websites out there. If you want info, they have it. Normally they’re not heavily loaded and response time is instant. I can’t make any predictions for the next week however …
I know at this university, if you are an enrolled student working for the school or the bookstore taxes are not taken out. You have to prove your eligibility each semester.
The payroll person at the university probably based that advice on income earned only at the university. In that case no taxes would need to be withheld. She/he can’t be expected to know about other income earned or that you were filing jointly. If it’s better to have taxes withheld this year your spouse can request a change at the payroll office I’m sure.
Jeez… I just found out that my fomer employer didn’t bother taking state income taxes out of my check for the entire year last year. So - a month or two after he lays me off, I now owe NC $1400. With no job. Ever have one of those employers that keeps on fucking you over, even after you stop working for them??
:mad:
And if you’d seen his ghetto “do it yourself” paychecks, you’d know why I never noticed it.