Taxes 101 Can I File Exempt & Still Get a Tax Refund? Read the Article Open Share Drawer Share this:Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window) Written by TurboTaxLisa Published Feb 28, 2024 - [Updated Dec 19, 2024] 4 min read Last tax season, more than 75% of taxpayers received a tax refund, and the average refund was over $3,000. You can get started now with TurboTax and get closer to your tax refund, and if you have questions on your taxes, you can connect live via one-way video to a TurboTax Live tax expert with an average of 12 years of experience to get your tax questions answered from the comfort of your couch. As you may already know, the IRS issues tax refunds when you pay more tax during the year than you actually owe. When you file exempt with your employer for federal tax withholding, you do not make any tax payments during the year. Without paying tax, you do not qualify for a tax refund unless you qualify to claim a refundable tax credit, like the Earned Income Tax Credit. The tax law requires your employer to withhold federal income tax from each paycheck you receive and send it to the IRS on a quarterly basis. At tax time, your employer provides you with a W-2 Form that reports the total amount of taxes withheld during the year. When you sit down to do your taxes, if the taxes you owe are less than the total amount withheld, the IRS will send you a tax refund for the difference. Generally, if you are self-employed and expect to owe $1,000 or more, you are required to make income tax payments every three months throughout the year. If you have questions, we have TurboTax Live Premium tax experts, available in English and Spanish, to help you with your personal and business income and expenses. Table of Contents Filing exempt from withholdingUpdate your W-4Refundable tax credits Filing exempt from withholding When you start a job, your employer will ask you to fill out IRS Form W-4. The W-4 helps you estimate the amount that should be withheld from each paycheck based on the tax information you provide. To claim an exemption from withholding, you must meet certain criteria. If you had even $1 of tax liability in the prior year or anticipate earning income in excess of the sum of your standard deduction ($13,850 single, $20,800 head of household, $27,700 married filing jointly), you cannot be exempt from federal tax withholding in the current year. For example, if you file as single on your 2023 taxes, you must not anticipate earning income in excess of the standard deduction of $13,850. If you still claim exempt from withholding and earn income in excess of this amount, you will probably owe some taxes unless you qualify for refundable tax credits like the Earned Income Tax Credit or the Child Tax Credit. Update your W-4 If you are unable to claim exempt from withholding, you can still reduce the amount that is withheld from your paycheck by updating your W-4 and changing your withholding. There is a redesigned IRS W-4 now called the W-4 Employee’s Withholding Certificate instead of the W-4 Withholding Allowance Certificate that has been updated to reflect changes under tax reform. The IRS W-4 was redesigned to align with changes under tax reform and to help taxpayers figure out their correct withholding after tax law changes. One of the biggest changes on the W-4 form was the elimination of personal allowances since allowances were tied to the dependent and personal exemption which were eliminated. The redesigned W-4 will take into account whether you can claim the Child Tax Credit and whether you can claim tax deductions other than the standard deduction, both of which can reduce your withholding. Refundable tax credits A refundable tax credit means that even if you have zero tax liability before claiming the tax credit, you may still get a tax refund. Refundable tax credits not only reduce federal taxes you owe, but they also could result in a tax refund even if the tax credit is more than the tax you owe. For example, the American Opportunity Tax Credit that covers certain higher education expenses is 40 percent refundable, and the Earned Income Tax Credit is fully refundable, so if you are eligible for these tax credits you may see a tax refund even if you paid no income tax for the year. No matter what moves you made last year, TurboTax will make them count on your taxes. Whether you want to do your taxes yourself or have a TurboTax expert file for you, we’ll make sure you get every dollar you deserve and your biggest possible refund – guaranteed. Get started now Previous Post Estimated Quarterly Tax Dates in 2025 Next Post Is Workers’ Compensation Taxable? Everything You Need to Know Written by Lisa Greene-Lewis Lisa has over 20 years of experience in tax preparation. Her success is attributed to being able to interpret tax laws and help clients better understand them. She has held positions as a public auditor, controller, and operations manager. Lisa has appeared on the Steve Harvey Show, the Ellen Show, and major news broadcast to break down tax laws and help taxpayers understand what tax laws mean to them. For Lisa, getting timely and accurate information out to taxpayers to help them keep more of their money is paramount. More from Lisa Greene-Lewis Follow Lisa Greene-Lewis on Twitter. 188 responses to “Can I File Exempt & Still Get a Tax Refund?” « Older Comments Newer Comments » I worked two jobs last year, one I had taxes taken out, and the other one I fiiled exempt. On the exempt job I only made $1,934, and the job I had taxes taken out of I made $7,023. So do I need to claim my exempted income on my tax returns this year or can I leave them out? Hi Felicia, You typically would have to claim income from both jobs, however your income is less than the income requirements for filing. Although your income is less, you may still get a refund if you had taxes taken out and additionally if you are entitled to credits like earned income tax credit. Thank you, Lisa Greene-Lewis I worked two jobs last year and one of my w-2 forms came in that said 0 on my federal withheld! I have no idea why. The first job I had in the year 2012 was for 3 months and they took out for my federal I made 4,000 dollars there for gross income! After I left there I got another job and worked there for the last 7 months of the year though December and made a gross income of 10,000! I have one dependent and my w-2 from there said 0 was taken out for federal withheld! I’m worried I’ll have to pay back taxes! What should I do and what options do I have? Can I file “Exempt” on my W-4 and just pay taxes directly to the IRS thought out the year? Hi Lisa Im married and we filed married. But for 2012 I forgot to change my w4 back to normal from exempt. i was exempt for 9 months, will we end up oweing? We have three kids under 18. And my wife also enrolled into school. Thank you How can my refund be more than the federal taxes withheld on my W-2? I’m not a US citizen. I was on a F1 student visa. I have a question. I filed exempt on my 2012 W4 for a job I did in Texas. Made about 26600 in about 2 months. Work the rest of the year in my home state Florida, had taxes taken out in Florida. I have added all up and made about 65000 total last year. I am filing jointly this year on 1098. After adding everything up and the deductions. We end up paying 75.00 in this year. I took the advice from a friend and I shouldn’t have for filing exempt. Now I am worried that the IRS is going to fine me a good bit. What penalties do you think I will have to pay and would they come after me hard. I am really worried. i have filedexempt for 1 month then changing it to 3 dependants will i be o.k. hi i just would like to know if my w-2 form says federal income tax withheld can i still get any thing back Hi Paris, Yes, you may get money back if you had federal taxes withheld. Especially if you take advantage of other tax credits and deductions. TurboTax walks you through the appropriate questions so that you can take the tax deductions and credits you deserve. Also remember if you have questions, you can ask our tax experts your question via chat or in person. Thank you, Lisa Greene-Lewis Im filed my taxes and apparently i owe which is surprsing to me. I filed exempt and have 0 withholdings on my w-4 and i do not have any dependents. what am i doing wrong that would make me owe money at the end of the year? I am single and dont qualify for head of household or eitc. J Ware… When you file form W-4 with your employer as “exempt”, you are telling your employer not to withhold any federal taxes. That is why you owe money at tax time. You should have taxes withheld from each paycheck so you don’t face tax time owing Uncle Sam. Bob Meighan, VP TurboTax I worked May – Dec, claiming 9 and married during this period. My W2 now states I have paid 0 into Federal Taxes. Is this correct? Shouldnt I have been paying at least a small amount each paycheck? Sarah… Withholding is done by your employer. It is conceivable that by claiming 9 exemptions there was no tax withholding. Correct or not depends on how much income you expected to earn for the year. If your joint income is more than around $18,000 you should have income tax withheld from each paycheck. If you need to change your withholding allowances to have more or less taken out, file Form W-4 with your employer. TurboTax will help you complete this form, but I encourage you to file your return first. That’s because you can use your 2012 tax return information to more accurately determine what should be claimed on Form W-4. I hope this info helps! Bob Meighan, VP TurboTax « Older Comments Newer Comments » Browse Related Articles Tax Deductions and Credits I Claimed Exempt, Can I Still Get a Tax Refund? 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I worked two jobs last year, one I had taxes taken out, and the other one I fiiled exempt. On the exempt job I only made $1,934, and the job I had taxes taken out of I made $7,023. So do I need to claim my exempted income on my tax returns this year or can I leave them out?
Hi Felicia, You typically would have to claim income from both jobs, however your income is less than the income requirements for filing. Although your income is less, you may still get a refund if you had taxes taken out and additionally if you are entitled to credits like earned income tax credit. Thank you, Lisa Greene-Lewis
I worked two jobs last year and one of my w-2 forms came in that said 0 on my federal withheld! I have no idea why. The first job I had in the year 2012 was for 3 months and they took out for my federal I made 4,000 dollars there for gross income! After I left there I got another job and worked there for the last 7 months of the year though December and made a gross income of 10,000! I have one dependent and my w-2 from there said 0 was taken out for federal withheld! I’m worried I’ll have to pay back taxes! What should I do and what options do I have?
Hi Lisa Im married and we filed married. But for 2012 I forgot to change my w4 back to normal from exempt. i was exempt for 9 months, will we end up oweing? We have three kids under 18. And my wife also enrolled into school. Thank you
How can my refund be more than the federal taxes withheld on my W-2? I’m not a US citizen. I was on a F1 student visa.
I have a question. I filed exempt on my 2012 W4 for a job I did in Texas. Made about 26600 in about 2 months. Work the rest of the year in my home state Florida, had taxes taken out in Florida. I have added all up and made about 65000 total last year. I am filing jointly this year on 1098. After adding everything up and the deductions. We end up paying 75.00 in this year. I took the advice from a friend and I shouldn’t have for filing exempt. Now I am worried that the IRS is going to fine me a good bit. What penalties do you think I will have to pay and would they come after me hard. I am really worried.
hi i just would like to know if my w-2 form says federal income tax withheld can i still get any thing back
Hi Paris, Yes, you may get money back if you had federal taxes withheld. Especially if you take advantage of other tax credits and deductions. TurboTax walks you through the appropriate questions so that you can take the tax deductions and credits you deserve. Also remember if you have questions, you can ask our tax experts your question via chat or in person. Thank you, Lisa Greene-Lewis
Im filed my taxes and apparently i owe which is surprsing to me. I filed exempt and have 0 withholdings on my w-4 and i do not have any dependents. what am i doing wrong that would make me owe money at the end of the year? I am single and dont qualify for head of household or eitc.
J Ware… When you file form W-4 with your employer as “exempt”, you are telling your employer not to withhold any federal taxes. That is why you owe money at tax time. You should have taxes withheld from each paycheck so you don’t face tax time owing Uncle Sam. Bob Meighan, VP TurboTax
I worked May – Dec, claiming 9 and married during this period. My W2 now states I have paid 0 into Federal Taxes. Is this correct? Shouldnt I have been paying at least a small amount each paycheck?
Sarah… Withholding is done by your employer. It is conceivable that by claiming 9 exemptions there was no tax withholding. Correct or not depends on how much income you expected to earn for the year. If your joint income is more than around $18,000 you should have income tax withheld from each paycheck. If you need to change your withholding allowances to have more or less taken out, file Form W-4 with your employer. TurboTax will help you complete this form, but I encourage you to file your return first. That’s because you can use your 2012 tax return information to more accurately determine what should be claimed on Form W-4. I hope this info helps! Bob Meighan, VP TurboTax