I was having a look at a couple of the tax calculators to see how things are going to shape up come April 15. Again, what the hell is wrong with companies or whomever withholding an appropriate amount of money? Not as bad as last year but it looks like I am donating again.

At the same time Trump fucked with the withholding they also revised the W4 calculators for the form. What can possible be so hard these days especially with the huge standard deduction covering so many? I even told them to take out more.

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Elections have consequences.

Companies follow IRS guidance. Unless you direct them otherwise, they follow the required minimums.

What happened was gimmickry from the Trump tax cut. To make the cut look bigger, they lowered weekly withholding. So people saw a larger bump in their regular net pay after the cut.

I make estimated payments each year. They withhold at 19%, and my effective is above 30%, insert humblebragisadick.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

It is friggin stupid not to just go flat even if only up to 250K. I would have to go back to the calculator I used to see my effective but it was not Dman level. Pain is pain though.

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Elections have consequences.

Completely agree.
There is zero reason for income tax to be as complicated.
There's a poverty line where people are tax exempt. Set a Flat rate. Wipe out the deductions.

But that would be bad for the 1%.

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That is why I said leave the 1% alone just make it simple for the rest of us. I don't care what number. 250k, 500k just pick a level. My state and local income tax is never wrong. Comes out of my check and I am done.

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Elections have consequences.

Bonus withholding is a lot of times the problem, so if you have a large bonus as part of your comp, this could be the issue. Withholding on bonus income is 20% regardless of tax bracket. So if you receive a large bonus, and are in a tax bracket higher than 20% - this is a cause of under withholding.

It is 19% on bonuses unless you hit a certain income threshold. And it is a huge problem because bonuses are ultimately taxed at your marginal rate.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

I used to have the bonus problems many years ago in private business but that is not the case. It just happened that I make too much money, got married and the dependents are now gone. Then Trump goes and fucks the withholding up last year. I thought I fixed it proper last April via W4 but as I mentioned that is now also different and not very simple to get it just where you want it.

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Elections have consequences.

It is very easy to figure out your approximate federal tax liability. After you get your first paycheck of the year, find the line where it says taxable gross. Multiply that by the number of pay periods, usually 26. That will be close to your adjusted gross income. Minus off your typical deductions or use the standard deduction. Go here to figure out the tax you will owe on that amount:

https://taxfoundation.org/2022-tax-brackets/

Now see what they are withholding for federal tax per pay period and multiply it by 26.

The difference between the two is your refund or amount you will owe.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

taxes are completely out of control.

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the world will always the world. your entire existence is defined by your response.

Especially for those that live in Illinois. We just closed on some Wisconsin property; at the closing our agent and the person in the title company office gave us all kinds of (good natured) abuse about our Illinois taxes

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"I honestly don't see a good bet on the board here."

Wisconsin is also a high tax burden state, and Illinois is mostly because the Chicagoland area is better than anywhere in Wisconsin by a huge margin.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!