Taxes on internship help please

Hi guys , so I need help , currently interning in ST and saw that I got taxed 26% on my recent check , I was wondering is that normal or wtf is going on , I worked about 98.5 hours for that period and 8 hours overtime . Idk if I should send in a new w4 or what how does it work it seems the tax is a lot for a intern

37 Comments
 

Did you make sure to say you were exempt for state and federal withholding taxes? You should only pay social security/medicare. I was initially also getting 26% out of my paycheck for the first two but then it dropped to 7.65% after I appropriately indicated no withholding taxes.

 

If your parents claim you as a dependent do not file separately. Also you can only be exempt from NYC tax if you are working from outside the city so you have to pay that.

Array 8.5.2
 

That is correct but also what OP is being paid. Sophomore internship rn getting paid 25 hr so I'm exempt from state and federal withholding

 

Honestly, just wait until tax season to find out. Thought I lost $4k from my internship but then got $2.5k back in April. Feel even better than had I just get the $2.5k outright

 

should probably ask my dad but he prob doesn't even know, should i file separately for taxes? or do i do it with my parents how does that work. I know these are really stupid questions

 
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Nah, like people have said before continue to let them withhold some of your taxes. You will receive a fat paycheck during your tax refund. Its always better to be over-taxed instead of finding yourself in a pickle when tax season comes around and you owe 2.5k to the govt. Just my .02 cents tho.

 

To find out how much tax you should pay overall just use a tax calculator and input the total you expect to be paid for the summer. The rate (and amount) that calculator gives you should be pretty close to what you should be paying for the year. You are probably being taxed as if your current pay is for the full year, so I would guess you are going to get a refund (as your rate will be lower since you are only working a few months so are in a different tax bracket). 

 

Yeah man, nothing against you specifically just see it a ton on the forums. Can find all the info on withholdings, tax rates, etc. on google/YouTube. Would try that, likely better info than a forum. 

 

They will withhold on you as if you were earning that money consistently throughout the year, so say you have an $80k annualized rate they'll withhold at around 25% for Fed (assuming you only did 0 or 1 exemption). Then come tax time you'll have say 1/3 of that, so that proportion of incremental pay in the higher bracket will come back to you roughly at the delta between your top two tax brackets for withholding and your top bracket at the end of the year.

State and city are trickier, but if you're in NY you'll probably get a refund, albeit much smaller relative to the tax you paid in than you'll get back for Fed. Also if NYC as a part-year resident you'll pay 2-3.5% on that earned income, which sucks but you can't avoid.

Signing bonuses are at 22% for Fed and usually top bracket for NY/NYC (assuming they're decent sized a la $5k+) which can be 9% + 3.5%ish. A greater proportion of the state/city will come back to you at tax time

 

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