Paycheck checkup important before next year’s taxes, says IRS

If you ended up with more or less money in your tax return than you expected, you can fix it for next year.

“You should do what I call your fiscal or financial physical,” said Michael Devine with the Internal Revenue Service. “Do a paycheck checkup and see if you’re having enough withheld from your paycheck.”

Because of changes in the tax law in the past couple of years, some people are still surprised at having to pay when tax day comes around.

“It’s really simple to do, just go to IRS.gov and click on that Withholding Calculator link,” said Devine. “That will walk you
through the steps to figure out if you’re having too much withheld, too little withheld or you’re in that Goldilocks zone of just right.”

Once you’ve done the calculations, you still have more steps to take.

“If you do the Withholding Calculator, all that’s going to tell you, is whether you need to do a new Form W-4,” said Devine. “This is what you fill out and give to your employer to say I want you to take out more or I want you to take out less. This can be a percentage or it can be a flat amount.”

If you do it right away, you have seven months for the withholding to help you. The fewer paychecks you have left in the year, the less you can do to fix your situation.