Will I get a tax refund if no federal taxes were withheld?
Asked by: Ophelia Kutch | Last update: December 19, 2025Score: 4.7/5 (18 votes)
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 you have no federal taxes withheld?
Employers take out – or withhold – income tax from employee paychecks and pay it to the IRS in the taxpayer's name. 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.
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.
Can you still get a tax refund if you file exempt?
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.
Tax Time! What if there was no income tax withholding?
Do I get a tax refund if I had no income?
You can still file a tax return if you have little or 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.
Why didn't my job take out federal taxes?
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.
Is it illegal for an employer 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.
How much money 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 happens if you haven't paid federal taxes?
If you filed on time but didn't pay all or some of the taxes you owe by the deadline, you could face interest on the unpaid amount and a failure-to-pay penalty. The failure-to-pay penalty is equal to one half of one percent per month or part of a month, up to a maximum of 25 percent, of the amount still owed.
Is it better to claim 1 or 0 on your taxes?
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.
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.
Why would I not get a federal tax refund?
An incomplete return, an inaccurate return, an amended return, tax fraud, claiming tax credits, owing certain debts for which the government can take part or all of your refund, and sending your refund to the wrong bank due to an incorrect routing number are all reasons that a tax refund can be delayed.
What qualifies for a tax refund?
Why Do People Get Tax Refunds? You get a refund if you overpaid your taxes the year before. This can happen if your employer withholds too much from your paychecks (based on the information you provided on your W-4). If you're self-employed, you may get a refund if you overpaid your estimated quarterly taxes.
Why am I getting $0 on my federal tax return?
A zero-tax refund actually means you're doing something right. Financial experts espouse that this is a good thing because you haven't given the IRS the use of more money through withholdings each month than you'll owe.
Why does my W2 show no federal tax withheld?
Key Takeaways: Taxpayers may notice they have not been subject to federal income tax withholding if they don't earn enough money, they claimed too many exemptions, they are self-employed, or their employer made an error on their W-2 form.
What can a single person claim on taxes?
- Bad debts.
- Canceled debt on home.
- Capital losses.
- Donations to charity.
- Gains from sale of your home.
- Gambling losses.
- Home mortgage interest.
- Income, sales, real estate and personal property taxes.
Why is my federal withholding so low when 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.
What if my company did not withhold 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.
Is it illegal for an employer to not withhold state taxes?
Employers are obligated to withhold state income tax from employee wages, unless the employee is not subject to state income tax.
What would happen if an employer did not deduct payroll taxes?
Penalties for not paying payroll taxes
Businesses that violate employment tax laws may be subject to: Monetary penalties. Interest on back taxes. Liens against property.
What happens if I don't have federal taxes withheld?
If you don't pay your taxes through withholding, or don't pay enough tax that way, you may have to pay estimated tax. People who are self-employed generally pay their tax this way.
Is it better to claim 1 or 0 allowances?
Claiming more allowances will lower the amount of income tax that's taken out of your check. Conversely, if the total number of allowances you're claiming is zero, that means you'll have the most income tax withheld from your take-home pay.