Claiming 0 but I still owe money to government! Tax gurus, help please!!!!?

You have NOT been paying ALL of your taxes. You have been paying only SOME of your taxes. The taxes on a married couple are less than the taxes on a single (or divorced) person earning the same amount. You paid ONLY the tax that would have been due if you were still married. Because you were divorced, you must pay tax at the higher, single rate. You owe the difference.

There can be several reasons. Did you have any other income besides the amount shown on your W-2. If you did it could be that you did not pay taxes on this other income. For instance, some people get interest income from banks for having savings accounts with these bank, and this type of interest generally does not have taxes withheld until tax time. Another possibility could be that you are being charged penalties or extra taxes. For instance, if you received a distribution from a pension you would be charged with and early withdrawal penalty because you are only 25. Also, if at any time you had self- employed income, you will have to pay what is called self- employment tax on this income. I am not saying that any of these apply to you because I do not know. To get an accurate answer you would have to provide more info (including line 7, 22, 38, 40, 42). Also, make sure that you file as single when you do your tax return.

Taxes were withheld based upon your being Married. However since you got divorced in 2008 you have to file as Single. Single filing status pays higher taxes which is why you owe.

Your ex most likely filed her W-4 as Single + 0 so that's why she's getting the large refund.

Try and look at the bright side: You didn't loan the government any money last year. You actually got an interest free loan from THEM!

Don't compare refunds with a co-worker without laying both tax returns side-by-side and looking at EVERY entry on BOTH returns. If you are comparing without close examination, the comparison is meaningless.

BTW, I've been doing this for about 40 years, so I DO know what I'm talking about.

Did you file single/HOH for 2008? U were not married (divorced) for the tax year, so your fiing status is single, unless you have a child or dependent living with you and you could be Head of Household. Did she claim kids/dependent? You can change your W-4, so I would do that soon. I would double check your numbers. Sometimes I take out extra beside just claiming 0. I would advise you to double check your numbers and try to pay the amount ASAP (if the #'s are right) b/c if you set up an IA w/ the IRS you will pay $100-110, just to set up an IA plus the amount that you owe. Their fines are a killer.

married and 0 does not withhold teh same amount as single aqs zero and in the end you filed as single on your tax return - that's why you owed mny - change your w-4 to single and 0 asap - this help help you avoid a repeat next year.

maybe your ex's w-4 was single and 0 plus $30 a week or something impossible to answer without seeing both yours and your ex's tax returns - maybe she had deductions you didn;t have

Your exemption on the actual tax return should be 1 (yourself), if it says 0, make sure you check it, if that's the case you should see the numbers change a bit.

Unless you tell your total income and taxes withheld, no one can tell about how much you owe or not.

You were claiming married and 0 while you filed as single.

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