{"id":1494,"date":"2013-08-28T14:33:46","date_gmt":"2013-08-28T19:33:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hoorfarlaw.com\/blog\/?p=1494"},"modified":"2013-08-28T14:33:46","modified_gmt":"2013-08-28T19:33:46","slug":"give-withholding-and-payments-a-check-up-to-avoid-a-tax-surprise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hoorfarlaw.com\/blog\/?p=1494","title":{"rendered":"<a href=http:\/\/www.hoorfarlaw.com>Give Withholding and Payments a Check-up to Avoid a Tax Surprise<\/a>"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/hoorfarlaw.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/amt.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-608\" alt=\"amt\" src=\"http:\/\/hoorfarlaw.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/amt.jpg\" width=\"251\" height=\"201\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Some people are surprised to learn they&#8217;re due a large federal income tax refund when they file their taxes. Others are surprised that they owe more taxes than they expected. When this happens, it&#8217;s a good idea to check your federal tax withholding or payments. Doing so now can help avoid a tax surprise when you file your 2013 tax return next year.<\/p>\n<p>Here are some tips to help you bring the tax you pay during the year closer to what you&#8217;ll actually owe.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Wages and Income Tax Withholding<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>New Job.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0 Your employer\u00a0will ask you to complete a Form W-4, Employee&#8217;s Withholding Allowance\u00a0Certificate. Complete it accurately to figure the amount of federal income tax to withhold from your paychecks.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Life Event.<\/strong>\u00a0 Change your Form\u00a0W-4 when certain life events take place. A change in marital status, birth\u00a0of a child, getting or losing a job, or purchasing a home, for example,\u00a0can all change the amount of taxes you owe. You can typically submit a new\u00a0Form W\u20134 anytime.<\/li>\n<li><strong>IRS Withholding\u00a0Calculator.\u00a0<\/strong> This handy online tool will help you figure the\u00a0correct amount of tax to withhold based on your situation. If a change is necessary, the tool will help you complete a new Form W-4.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Self-Employment and Other Income<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Estimated tax.\u00a0<\/strong> This is how you pay tax on income that&#8217;s not subject to withholding. Examples include income from\u00a0self-employment, interest, dividends, alimony, rent and gains from the\u00a0sale of assets. You also may need to pay estimated tax if the amount of income tax withheld from your wages, pension or other income is not\u00a0enough. If you expect to owe a thousand dollars or more in taxes and meet\u00a0other conditions, you may need to make estimated tax payments.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Form 1040-ES.<\/strong>\u00a0 Use the worksheet in Form 1040-ES, Estimated Tax for Individuals, to find out if you need to\u00a0pay estimated taxes on a quarterly basis.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Change in Estimated Tax.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0After you make an estimated tax payment, some life events or financial\u00a0changes may affect your future payments. Changes in your income, adjustments, deductions, credits or exemptions may make it necessary for you to refigure your estimated tax.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Additional Medicare\u00a0Tax.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0A new Additional Medicare Tax went into effect on Jan. 1, 2013. The 0.9 percent Additional Medicare Tax applies to an individual&#8217;s wages, Railroad Retirement Tax Act compensation and self-employment income that exceeds a threshold amount based on the individual&#8217;s filing status. For additional information on the Additional Medicare Tax, see our <a href=\"http:\/\/links.govdelivery.com:80\/track?type=click&amp;enid=ZWFzPTEmbWFpbGluZ2lkPTIwMTMwODI4LjIyMzU1NTYxJm1lc3NhZ2VpZD1NREItUFJELUJVTC0yMDEzMDgyOC4yMjM1NTU2MSZkYXRhYmFzZWlkPTEwMDEmc2VyaWFsPTE2ODk4NTU1JmVtYWlsaWQ9cGFyYWxlZ2FsNEBob29yZmFybGF3LmNvbSZ1c2VyaWQ9cGFyYWxlZ2FsNEBob29yZmFybGF3LmNvbSZmbD0mZXh0cmE9TXVsdGl2YXJpYXRlSWQ9JiYm&amp;&amp;&amp;128&amp;&amp;&amp;http:\/\/www.irs.gov\/Businesses\/Small-Businesses-&amp;-Self-Employed\/Questions-and-Answers-for-the-Additional-Medicare-Tax\">questions and answers<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>\u2022\u00a0<strong>Net Investment Income Tax.<\/strong>\u00a0 A new Net Investment Income Tax went into effect on Jan. 1, 2013. The 3.8 percent Net Investment Income Tax applies to individuals, estates and\u00a0trusts that have certain investment income above certain threshold\u00a0amounts. For additional information on the Net Investment Income Tax, see\u00a0our <a href=\"http:\/\/links.govdelivery.com:80\/track?type=click&amp;enid=ZWFzPTEmbWFpbGluZ2lkPTIwMTMwODI4LjIyMzU1NTYxJm1lc3NhZ2VpZD1NREItUFJELUJVTC0yMDEzMDgyOC4yMjM1NTU2MSZkYXRhYmFzZWlkPTEwMDEmc2VyaWFsPTE2ODk4NTU1JmVtYWlsaWQ9cGFyYWxlZ2FsNEBob29yZmFybGF3LmNvbSZ1c2VyaWQ9cGFyYWxlZ2FsNEBob29yZmFybGF3LmNvbSZmbD0mZXh0cmE9TXVsdGl2YXJpYXRlSWQ9JiYm&amp;&amp;&amp;129&amp;&amp;&amp;http:\/\/www.irs.gov\/uac\/Newsroom\/Net-Investment-Income-Tax-FAQs\">questions and answers<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Courtesy of the Internal Revenue Service.<br \/>\nVisit our website at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.Hoorfarlaw.com\">www.Hoorfarlaw.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Some people are surprised to learn they&#8217;re due a large federal income tax refund when they file their taxes. Others are surprised that they owe more taxes than they expected. When this happens, it&#8217;s a good idea to check your &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hoorfarlaw.com\/blog\/?p=1494\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[229,146,16,330],"class_list":["post-1494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-hoorfar-law","tag-internal-revenue-service","tag-irs","tag-tax-withholding"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoorfarlaw.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1494","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoorfarlaw.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoorfarlaw.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoorfarlaw.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoorfarlaw.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1494"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/hoorfarlaw.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1494\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1496,"href":"https:\/\/hoorfarlaw.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1494\/revisions\/1496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoorfarlaw.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoorfarlaw.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoorfarlaw.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}