Tax Tip 2022-158: Taxpayers should stay on top of taxes all year to avoid a surprise tax bill

IRS Tax Tips

October 17, 2022

Issue Number: Tax Tip 2022-158

Taxpayers should stay on top of taxes all year to avoid a surprise tax bill

The next tax season seems far away, but this is actually the perfect time for taxpayers to review their withholding?and estimated tax payments. Because federal taxes are pay-as-you-go, it?s important for taxpayers to withhold enough from their paychecks or pay enough in estimated tax. If they don?t, they risk being charged a penalty.

Adjust tax withholding
For employees, withholding is the amount of federal income tax withheld from their paycheck. The amount of income tax an employer withholds from an employee?s regular pay depends on two things:

The amount they earn.
The information they give their employer on Form W?4.

All taxpayers should review their federal withholding each year to make sure they're not having too little or too much tax withheld.

Individuals can use the IRS Tax Withholding Estimator to help decide if they should make a change to their withholding. This online tool guides users, step-by-step, through the process of checking their withholding, and provides withholding recommendations to help aim for their desired refund amount when they file next year.

Taxpayers can check with their employer to update their withholding or submit a new Form W-4, Employee's Withholding Certificate.

Make estimated payments
Taxpayers may need to make quarterly estimated tax payments in a few situations:

If the amount of income tax withheld from a taxpayer's salary or pension isn?t enough.
If they receive income such as interest, dividends, alimony, self-employment income, capital gains, prizes and awards.
If they are self-employed.

Estimated tax payments are due from individual taxpayers on April 15, June 15, September 15 and January 17. The fastest and easiest way to make estimated tax payments is using Direct Pay or the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System. Taxpayers can visit IRS.gov for other payment options.

More information:
Pay as You Go, So You Won't Owe
Estimated Taxes
Form W-4, Employee's Withholding Certificate

Share this tip on social media -- #IRSTaxTip: Taxpayers should stay on top of taxes all year to avoid a surprise tax bill. http://ow.ly/mr9I50L9CZv

Back to top

?? ?? ?

Thank you for subscribing to IRS Tax Tips, an IRS e-mail service. For more information on federal taxes please visit IRS.gov.

This message was distributed automatically from the IRS Tax Tips mailing list. Please Do Not Reply To This Message.

Update your subscriptions, modify your password or email address, or stop subscriptions at any time on your Subscriber Preferences Page. You will need to use your email address to log in. If you have questions or problems with the subscription service, please contact subscriberhelp.govdelivery.com.

This service is provided to you at no charge by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

This email was sent to [email protected] by: Internal Revenue Service (IRS) ? Internal Revenue Service ? 1111 Constitution Ave. N.W. ? Washington DC 20535

Useful Links:

News Essentials

The Newsroom Topics

IRS Resources

Issue Number: Tax Tip 2022-158