Will I get a tax refund if no federal taxes were withheld?

Asked by: Dr. Raina Carroll II  |  Last update: September 4, 2025
Score: 4.8/5 (13 votes)

Can I get a refund if I don't pay taxes? It's possible. If you do not have any federal tax withheld from your paycheck, your tax credits and deductions could still be greater than any taxes you owe. This would result in you being eligible for a refund.

Can you get a tax refund if you don't pay federal taxes?

Even if you didn't pay tax, you may still get a refund if you qualify for a refundable credit. To get your refund, you must file a return. You have 3 years to claim a tax refund.

What happens if no federal taxes were withheld?

If an employee doesn't have enough tax withheld, they may face an unexpected tax bill and a possible penalty when they file a tax return next year. If they overpay or have too much tax withheld during the year, the employee will likely get a tax refund when they file their tax return.

What happens if your employer doesn't pay your federal taxes?

Report Your Employer: If you do not receive a W-2 and believe that your employer is committing tax fraud, report your employer to the three government agencies that collect taxes – California's EDD, the Federal IRS, and the Federal Social Security Administration. See the Remedies section below.

Why is 0 federal income tax withheld?

They Don't Earn Enough Income to be Taxable. The most common reason for you or your employee not seeing any paycheck tax withholdings is that they simply didn't earn enough income. A federal income tax withholding is a portion of an employee's paycheck withheld to cover their federal income tax obligations.

Tax Time! What if there was no income tax withholding?

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How much do I need to make for federal taxes to be withheld?

No, as employee, you do not have to earn a minimum income for federal and state income tax to be withheld. Federal income tax is based on the employee's filing status, number of allowances/exemptions, earnings, and the IRS withholding tax tables.

What if my employer never took out federal taxes?

Your employer might have just made a mistake. If your employer didn't have federal tax withheld, contact them to have the correct amount withheld for the future. When you file your tax return, you'll owe the amounts your employer should have withheld during the year as unpaid taxes.

What happens if no federal taxes are taken out of my paycheck on Reddit?

So it's normal to not withhold federal income tax. You'd just be overpaying and having to ask for a refund. Better to not overpay.

Is it illegal to not withhold federal taxes?

Employers are required by law to withhold employment taxes from their employees. Employment taxes include federal income tax withholding and Social Security and Medicare Taxes.

Do I get back federal income tax withheld?

Employers remit withholding taxes directly to the IRS in the employee's name. The tax withholding is a credit against the employee's annual income tax bill. If too much money is withheld, an employee receives a tax refund; if too little is withheld, they may have to pay the IRS more with their tax return.

Do you get a federal refund if you have no income?

If you are due a tax refund, you must file a return to claim it. Even if you did not earn income, there are tax credits and deductions you may be eligible to claim. If no federal tax is withheld from your paychecks, you might still be eligible for a refund if your tax credits and deductions exceed any taxes you owe.

Who is exempt from federal income tax?

Who Does Not Have to Pay Taxes? You generally don't have to pay taxes if your income is less than the standard deduction or the total of your itemized deductions, if you have a certain number of dependents, if you work abroad and are below the required thresholds, or if you're a qualifying non-profit organization.

How do I know if I will get a tax refund?

Tracking the status of a tax refund is easy with the Where's My Refund? tool. It's available anytime on IRS.gov or through the IRS2Go App. Taxpayers can start checking their refund status within 24 hours after an e-filed return is received.

Why was no federal income tax withheld from my paycheck?

It is your employers responsibility to withhold taxes from your wages based on the W-4 you gave to your employer. Only your employer or the employer's payroll department can tell why no taxes are being withheld. You may want to give your employer a new W-4.

Can you get a refund if your only income is Social Security?

You would not be required to file a tax return. But you might want to file a return, because even though you are not required to pay taxes on your Social Security, you may be able to get a refund of any money withheld from your paycheck for taxes.

What is the minimum income to not pay federal taxes?

If you have income below the standard deduction threshold for 2024, which is $14,600 for single filers and $29,200 for those married filing jointly, you may not be required to file a return. However, you may want to file anyway.

What happens if a company doesn't pay federal taxes?

If your company does not file taxes or does not pay the full amount, then you may be subject to a 10-15% penalty, which applies to every month the payment is delinquent, up to a maximum of 25%. An additional penalty of $135 and interest equal to the federal short-term rate plus an additional 3% may apply.

How much do you have to make before federal taxes are taken out?

There is no threshold amount for withholding taxes from an employee's wages. As an employer, you're responsible for withholding taxes on every employee's wages from day one based on the information the employee provides to you on Form W-4.

Why do I owe federal taxes if I claim 0?

If you claimed 0 and still owe taxes, chances are you added “married” to your W4 form. When you claim 0 in allowances, it seems as if you are the only one who earns and that your spouse does not. Then, when both of you earn, and the amount reaches the 25% tax bracket, the amount of tax sent is not enough.

Can an employer get in trouble for not withholding federal taxes?

The Tax Division also pursues criminal investigations and prosecutions against those individuals and entities who willfully fail to comply with their employment tax responsibilities, as well as those who aid and assist them in failing to meet those responsibilities.

Is it better to claim 1 or 0?

By placing a “0” on line 5, you are indicating that you want the most amount of tax taken out of your pay each pay period. If you wish to claim 1 for yourself instead, then less tax is taken out of your pay each pay period.

How to get a $10,000 tax refund in 2024?

How do I get a 10,000 tax refund? You could end up with a $10,000 tax refund if you've paid significantly more tax payments than you owe at the end of the year.