If she just spent hours on the phone with the technical support team, without a resolution, why would you tell her to call the same technical support team again? 

Why can't we get an appointment or a callback from an actual knowledgeable expert with the authority to make the corrections?

I have spent SO MANY HOURS & HOURS teaching the next support person about the issues we're having, instead of talking to someone who already understands.

For your $40,000 example, $1000 withheld sounds about right:

HH - $19,400

6 dependents x $2k - $12,000

Total reduction = $31,400

Taxable income = $8,600

10% tax = $860

So they are "over withheld" $340.

Sound like they completed the W4 incorrectly.

I have done all the payroll updates - I even told it to do it again just to make sure.  The Percentage chart calculations in Quickbooks Desktop payroll are not being calculated correctly for people who don't have the box for 2 jobs checked.  I manually calculated (using the worksheet and tables in Publication 15-T) the amount that should have been withheld on an employee that said enough wasn't withheld.  I calculated $148.67 and Quickbooks withheld $68 - that's $80 UNDER withheld.  I do payroll for almost 50 clients and have had people complain about not having enough withheld in the past, but I assumed it was the change in the IRS charts when they changed the W-4 in 2020.  Now after calculating it myself, I am sure that it is Quickbooks that does not have the calculation being done correctly. This issue needs to be fixed ASAP.

Thank you for joining this Community thread, shell800

I understand that as an employer, it is important to make sure that your employees are properly taxed.

These are the possible reasons why your employees have under or over-collected taxes:

• Your employee wasn’t marked as subject to a tax and should have been.
• Your employee had a payroll item set up incorrectly.
• A tax rate changed.
• Tax tables weren’t updated.

If your employees have underwithheld payroll taxes, you need to check your employee's tax setup and make necessary adjustments to correct them. 

You can also utilize the Payroll Summary Report to check your employee's wages and tax discrepancies.

Here's how:

1. Go to Reports and choose Employees and Payroll.
2. Click on Payroll Summary.
3. Adjust the date range appropriately.
4. In the Show Columns dropdown, select Total only.

If there are any discrepancies in your employee's wages and taxes, you can use this article to learn how to make manual adjustments: Adjust payroll liabilities in QuickBooks Desktop Payroll.

For more information on handling over or under-withheld employee-paid taxes, you can check out this link: Handle overwithheld or underwithheld employee-paid taxes.

Let me know if you still have other concerns about payroll taxes. I'd be glad to help. Keep safe and enjoy a wonderful day!

We are a similar situation as @shell800 with many bookkeeping client who we run payroll for and many are complaining of not enough taxes withheld when they got their taxes done for 2022.  Also, our own employees have found errors in their taxes. We have been in business for 10 years and are quite familiar with how to set up payroll and how to find errors in the set up.  I do not want to sound condescending @Archie_B but we are far beyond the simple steps we keep getting as "solutions".  I suspect QB/Intuit is trying to get all of us to move to QBO so they do not fix the desktop issues.  

Unfortunately it is not just QBO, we use Enterprise Desktop and it's happening there also.  We have over 20 payroll clients plus our own employees and there are issues all over the place.  It is ever since the new W4 form got issued.

Quickbooks is simply not calculating the withholding correctly and needs to correct the formula calculation.  Like I said above, I computed last payday manually per the Publication 15-T instructions that are intended for payroll programs to use.  When I compute it, it is $80 less than what Quickbooks computed for the payday.  NONE of the other scenarios that you mention are causing this - everything is marked correctly in Quickbooks and all updates are have been done.  I redid updates to make sure and it still calculates incorrectly.  This seems to be an issue with all employees using the 2020 or later W4 setting.  I can see from these forums that it is an issue for EVERYONE and support keeps trying to say it's not a problem with Quickbooks but it clearly is.  I don't have the time to calculate everyone's withholding manually and you won't allow us to change back to the 2019 W4 withholding.  The only "fix" I have is to look at each one on a case by case basis when they ask why so little is withheld and make suggestions to them how to change their W4 to make Quickbooks withhold enough.

I think it's all of their payroll programs.  Somehow they have not programmed the withholding calculation correctly for the 2020 and newer W4 setting.

@shell800&  @northcobooks:

Any chance you can post a couple of your employee's wage and W-4 information?  Specifically, for an employee that appears to have insufficient withholding:

1) Taxable wages

2) Filing status (Single, MFJ or HoH)

3) Is the box in Step 2 checked?

4) Step 3 (Any qualifying children or other dependents?)

5) Step 4 (any other adjustments?)

It's just that I have yet to see anyone post specific wage and W-4 information on this forum that can be verified.  Most posters simply say QB isn't withholding enough or that they have an employee that owed taxes or that they (the poster) figured it out.  It would be helpful if someone would post specific wage and W-4 details for verification.    

QBO does not calculate withholding taxes any better. And is probably worse.

QBD used to calculate based on the current payroll amount, and look at the year-to-date totals.

Not sure that happens anymore.

QBO definitely does NOT look at YTD totals. Every check is calculated as a single item. And if there are separate bonuses, commissions, or varying paycheck amounts, the withholding will not be right based on the YTD amounts.

FYI, any kind of Bonus or Commission paid as a separate check needs to be setup as Supplemental Pay. This withholds a flat 22% regardless of the W4 settings. 

It's a simple straight forward employee:

1) Taxable wages $1,829.52 for this particular month, paid monthly

2) Filing status (Single, MFJ or HoH) Single

3) Is the box in Step 2 checked? No

4) Step 3 (Any qualifying children or other dependents?) NONE

5) Step 4 (any other adjustments?) No

When I use all that information and Worksheet 1A from Publication 15-T and the Percentage Method Tables for Automated Payroll Systems (again Pub 15-T), It works out to $148.67 or round it to $148 and Quickbooks withheld $68.

Hello. Here is  W4 or one of my employees who is not having any federal taxes withheld from her paycheck. She files MFJ, zero dependents and she makes $589 weekly (we pay weekly). Last year she made $28,000 but had ZERO federal taxes withheld.  I spent hours on the phone with QuickBooks and they could not find the issue.  

Allow me to chime in and add some insights to fix this so your employees' federal taxes will fix as soon as possible, @THM1.

I can imagine how challenging it may be not to have federal taxes taken from one's paycheck. I recognize how crucial it is to address and fix this immediately.

Payroll Wage and Tax calculations is derived from the QuickBooks Desktop payroll data and transactions you enter. Your employee's federal withholding tax calculation may depend on several factors:

• How much and how often you pay your worker
• Marital status
• Number of dependents
• Other sources of income
• Ensure the filing status and all other applicable fields match your employee's W-4 or state equivalent forms. 

To understand minimum thresholds for federal withholding, check out IRS Publication 15-T. 

Once confirmed and all information is correct, federal taxes must be deducted from your employee. Since this isn't the case, I suggest contacting our Payroll Experts. I know you've already talked to them, but they're the only ones who can give you a more in-depth look at how your payroll set up. They can also submit a ticket to our product engineers for further investigation. Please call them within business hours for a swift response. 

To give you more troubleshooting steps on what to do if payroll taxes are not calculating, please visit these resources:

• Payroll items on a paycheck are not calculating or are calculating incorrectly
• QuickBooks Desktop calculates wages and/or payroll taxes incorrectly

Moreover, you may also find this helpful: 0.00 or no income tax withheld from paycheck. 

Remember that you're always welcome to post any questions you may have in this section. I'm here whenever you need me.

@shell800 

You need to use Worksheet 2, not Worksheet 1A.  1A is for pensions and annuities. 

If you look on page 22 of Pub. 15-T and go across on the row from $1,820-$1,850 (your employee's pay is $1,829), the proper withholding amount per pay period for an employee with single filing status is, in fact, $68.  The exact amount that QB is withholding.

@THM1 

Did you round up to $28,000?  An employee making $28,000 that is MFJ, paid weekly, should only have $1 withheld per paycheck.  That same employee making $27,820 should have $0 withheld.  You can confirm that by using Worksheet 1A in IRS Publication 15-T and then looking up the withholding in the table on page 13.

also desktop version

I appreciate you reaching out to us here in the Community, wendimcp.

I want to ensure we've got the right information about your concern for us to provide you with a resolution. May I know more about your issue? What tasks were you trying to achieve while working with the desktop program? This way, we'll be able to provide you with comprehensive information and guide you through the process. Any additional information is much appreciated.

Feel free to get back to us and leave a reply below for any additional information and other QuickBooks-related concerns. We'd be glad to help you. Keep safe!

I needed to  change the frequency and date of payroll for one employee. It will not calculate any taxes withheld. I have tried to do an update. I have looked at their employee information, and it has the w4 2020 or later. I do not remember changing that. 

I went online and updated my billing info. And now it works- even though my payment wasn't due yet. It seems QB held me hostage. 

I don't know why it wouldn't let me just do payroll. 

I think I am all set now. 

Here I am too with the same situation!  Calculation was way off in the online version.  Called for help and nothing!!!!!!! So frustrating. 

Here I am too with the same situation!  Calculation was way off in the online version for everyone in my company.  Called for help and nothing!!!!!!! So frustrating.  Anyone else have recommendations for better payroll service?  

The link provided here does not work.

Hi there, BK ADM Conservation District. I'm here to ensure you can successfully access the link in your browser.

Beforehand, can you share the link you're referring to? It'll help us determine why it doesn't work anymore and provide a working one.

Please don't hesitate to get back on this thread. I'm here to help you out.