Why Do I Owe $10,814 in Taxes? My Head of Household Dilemma

Some people look forward to the tax-filing season because it results in an IRS refund coming their way.

Now it can be argued that a tax refund is actually not a good thing at all. And the reason is that a refund is not free money, contrary to what some might think. Rather, a refund represents money you overpaid the IRS the previous year that’s being returned to you much later.

But still, most people would rather get a refund from the IRS than owe a big chunk of money. And in this Reddit post, we have someone who’s upset over a very large tax bill — one that’s more than $10,000.

The poster doesn’t understand why they owe so much, so some Reddit users had some thoughts. And at the end of the day, it may be a simple matter of a lack of tax awareness.

Reasons you could end up with a huge tax bill

There are a number of reasons why you could end up owing the IRS money when you file your taxes. These include:

• Being a W-2 employee and not having enough tax withheld from your wages by your employer
• Being a 1099 contractor and not paying enough estimated tax on your wages
• Having outside income from investments or interest that you don’t pay estimated taxes on
• Not claiming the right deductions or credits
• Not writing off eligible expenses if you’re self-employed

In response to the post above, some Redditors were quick to point out that it seemed like the poster simply didn’t pay enough tax during the year, resulting in a large IRS bill. A few suggested that the poster check their tax withholding and make adjustments as necessary to avoid a repeat situation.

That’s good advice. But there’s a tip I’d like to share as well.

It pays work with a tax professional

There was a time when I was more than comfortable doing my own taxes. Back when I was a salaried employee with just a small amount of extra income from savings and investments, it was pretty easy.

These days, I’m self-employed and have different income streams to manage. So I use an accountant to not only file my tax returns for me, but also, to oversee my broad tax strategy.

His goal is to help me legally pay the IRS as little money as possible. And the poster, and anyone else who’s looking at a really large tax bill, may want to do the same.

A tax or financial professional can take a look at your total income picture and help identify ways to whittle down your IRS bill. That could mean claiming different deductions if you’re self-employe, or claiming credits you didn’t know you were entitled to.

To be clear, it’s not the end of the world to owe the IRS a small sum of money when you file your taxes. In that case, it means you got to hang onto the extra earnings, not them.

But a $10,000 tax bill is a different story. So if you’re in a situation like the poster above, it’s probably time to sit down with a professional and get some guidance.

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