Every year for like the last 5 at least I end up owing. I have student debt, but it’s all declared and taken out accordingly. I have a single employer and no other income aside from a pittance in interest on bank accounts. It’s not massive amounts I owe, usually less than $1k, but it still chaps my grits.
In the past It’s been softened by my wife getting a decent return, but this year she owes too.
While I loath admitting I like anything about the US, when I lived there you could set your level of withholding, they had 4 levels, and I’d always max it out and get a decent return, kinda like forced savings. I’d be fine with missing a bit extra off every paycheck just to not end up owing them another $800 on top of the tens of thousands I’ve already paid.
I’m just pissed and tired of getting worse off every year instead of better.
End rant, I guess.
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Most businesses can organise to withold more tax for you. Talk to your payroll department, they might also have some idea of why you’re consistently behind in your tax obligations.
If you really want a forced saving experience with tax remove your claim to the tax free threshold for that job. Do that and I can basically guarantee you’ll be sitting on a fat return every year.
The downside is of course that getting that tax return means you didn’t have that money for the rest of the year, which is good if you can’t save otherwise but means you didn’t even get the pittance of interest you could have gotten if you had it (not to mention making your life hard if the weekly budget was already tight).
This is what my partner and i do, we get about 7k back each year, as you say its like a forced savings account
Do you know why you end up owing? I’ve mostly ended up owing when I’ve gotten a significant pay bump, which it’s hard to feel too bad about (rebates still feel good though).
Alternatively maybe the reductions in HECS have increased your taxable income?
