No tax withheld?

I sat down with my girlfriend last night to go through our tax stuff. As I took a look at her W-2 I noticed she has a grand total of $69.29 of federal income tax withheld. I thought that was quite strange and as we went through the rest of the 1040 steps I came to a total of $1276 she owed! She flipped out and of course doesn't have $1200 dollars lying around to pay this off so we went back and looked at some past pay stubs...sure enough no taxes were being taken out. Now I don't know about most people but I don't sit and look at my pay stubs...I might glance at the total going in to my pocket to lift my spirits on a Friday afternoon but I don't dare look at the income tax part. So it's obviously too late to really do anything through her employer to change the situation but what we are trying to find out right now is why is this situation even occuring? She says she didn't claim her self as dependant on her W-4 and she made around $20,000 this year so it should be taxed. Any advice on a good next step on looking in to this...or is this just something that will have to be paid regardless? Thanks for any help.

This is something that will have to be paid regardless. It is foolish to ignore one's pay stubs.

It was her responsibility to make sure taxes were being properly withheld as she requested.

Snipes

malaflam said:

Any advice on a good next step on looking in to this...or is this just something that will have to be paid regardless? Thanks for any help.

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Have your girlfriend contact her payroll department to find out what is going on.

Sure, it will have to be paid. The income tax liability is her's, whether it is satisfied thorugh withholding or an end-of-the-year check to the US Treasury.

So there is no liability on the employers parts for improper withholdings? I understand that it is her responsibility to keep an eye on it but it seems strange that she would have to take the brunt of someone elses mistake. I guess thats something she'll have to discuss on a personal level with them. Also, could you explian the "end-of-the-year check"? I've seen you can do payments if it is approved by the irs but any way to make this payment easier would be great. Thanks for the quick respsonses!

malaflam said:

So there is no liability on the employers parts for improper withholdings?

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You are assuming that the mistake was on the part of the employer. Trying to be a bit nice, someone who does not realize that there is no withholding being taken from her check may not have the best recollection of what went on the W-4. And, even if the employer did make a mistake, it is still the taxpayer's responsibility to make certain that the withholding is adequate.

Also, could you explian the "end-of-the-year check"?

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Merely meant that you either have enough tax withheld during the year or you send a check to the US Treasury when filing.

How about lending her some money? Either that or it's time to talk to the IRS about a payment plan.

malaflam said:

So there is no liability on the employers parts for improper withholdings? I understand that it is her responsibility to keep an eye on it but it seems strange that she would have to take the brunt of someone elses mistake. I guess thats something she'll have to discuss on a personal level with them. Also, could you explian the "end-of-the-year check"? I've seen you can do payments if it is approved by the irs but any way to make this payment easier would be great. Thanks for the quick respsonses!

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Someone else's stupidity doesn't pay her taxes.