At what point do you begin to owe the IRS money as opposed to getting a refund? Is it a certain amount of money?

A W-4 is a form that tells your employer how much taxes to withhold for you. If you claim too many allowances on that W-4 form, you will not have enough tax withheld and you will owe.

The amount of taxes withheld from your check each week is based on your income with that job. So, as your pay goes up, so does the percentage of tax withheld. Therefore, it doesn't matter how much money you earn, the right amount of taxes will be taken if you have filled out your W-4 correctly.

For a single person, if you fill out your W-4 as Single with 0 allowances, you will get a refund in almost every situation. If you fill it out as single with 1 allowance, you will probably still get a small refund. If you take more than that, you will most likely owe money for not paying enough taxes during the year.

It is not a certain amount of money. It can be at zero. It can be at a billion dollars.

The amount of money that the government keeps is calculated based on how much money you made.

This amount is compared to the amount of money that was withheld from your paychecks at work.

If the amount withheld is more than the amount the government keeps, you get a refund.

If the amount the government keeps is more than the amount withheld, you owe.

There is no income threshold. Its a matter of how much income tax you had withheld during the year vs. what your total tax liability is. If you overwithheld, you get the excess refunded. If you underwithheld, you owe the shortfall. That's why filling out that W-4 form for the employer is important.

If you don't have enough withheld or paid in with quarterly estimated payments, to cover your tax for the year, you owe the additional. A self employed person who had nohing paid in could make $500 and owe. A perrson making a million dollars who had paid in hundreds of thousands of dollars and paid in more than they owed would get the extra refunded.