• PlantJam@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    10
    ·
    6 days ago

    I don’t care about seeing the amount or not. I care that I have to deliberately set up my withholdings incorrectly to hopefully not end up owing too much more at the end of the year. If I set it up accurately I would end up owing thousands more.

    • bitchkat@lemmy.world
      cake
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      5 days ago

      That’s because Republican “tax cuts” are often just a change in the withholding rate.

    • corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      edit-2
      6 days ago

      I’m not sure how withholdings works for your paycheque, but you request where the number is set.

      If I set it up accurately

      You define what’s accurate for a percentage when you set it.

      • ThePowerOfGeek@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        6 days ago

        Yeah, it’s a shit show over here. You kinda guess at how much you will need to pay in taxes, hold back that amount in your paycheck, and hope for the best. And if your life situation changes or the incoming government fucks around with the tax codes, your estimating will be off. Getting it down to a very small refund is the optional solution, but it’s not always as easy as you’d think.

        • dan@upvote.au
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          edit-2
          5 days ago

          And if your life situation changes or the incoming government fucks around with the tax codes, your estimating will be off.

          That’s kinda what quarterly estimated taxes are for. At the end of every quarter, if things aren’t lining up and your estimates were too low, you can pay extra tax to bring things in line.

          The estimate doesn’t have to be too precise though. At long as you pay at least 90% of what you owe this year or 100% of what you owed last year (whichever is smaller), you’ll be fine. Any less than that and you’ll be hit with an underpayment penalty.

          It’s better to owe money rather than get a refund, as long as you pay enough to avoid the underpayment penalty.

          • PlantJam@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            5 days ago

            I get that it’s ideal to owe, but I would rather a refund of a couple hundred dollars than owe a couple thousand. Part of the issue is inconsistent income, though. If it was just a single flat salary for the entire year that should be simple, but when you add in variable pay rates and shift differentials and shift bonuses it all gets messed up.

      • bitchkat@lemmy.world
        cake
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        5 days ago

        Actually you define the number of deductions to with hold. The more deductions you claim, the less they take out.