<p>Hello, I'm 17 (going into my senior year), and I got a summer internship, yay! Today I got my first paycheck after a week of working there. I earned $500, but after tax deduction, I got $416.61. Of course I'm still very pleased and grateful to be earning extra cash while gaining career experience, but I'm curious if deducting $83.39 (16-17%) is correct. That's quite a chunk. I heard one say she hasn't paid a single penny for taxes from filing for exempt (??), and something about tax return. All of these are weird terms and concepts to me--yeah, I've been living under a rock. Anyone care to explain? :)</p>
<p>You have to pay taxes out of your paycheck. However, you will get these back when your tax return is filed.</p>
<p>Do you live with your parents? Since you are under 18, your parents most likely have been claiming you as a dependent on their tax return and will again for the year of 2013. They will be filing the tax return probably on or before April 2014 (ask your parents!)</p>
<p>In this case, you can make up to $6,100 in 2013 and get all of it back if you paid taxes on it.</p>
<p>When they file their tax return for 2013, they will report all your income and get a refund for the amount of taxes you ended up paying.</p>
<p>16-17% is good by the way!. Usually I got taxed around 23% but that also depends on a lot of factors.</p>
<p>Payroll companies figure out how much to withhold from your paycheck by annualizing the particular paycheck they are writing. In this case, $500 for one week translates to $25,000 for the year ($500 x 50), which puts you in the 15% bracket. You also likely paid Social Security, Medicare, state and local taxes.</p>
<p>When you file your tax return in 2014, you will get back your federal income taxes, but you won’t get back any of the other taxes.</p>
<p>If it makes you feel any better, when I get my paycheck every month, I pay taxes and health insurance, and I deduct for retirement, so I only wind up seeing 60% of my actual salary. </p>
<p>… and people wonder why I’m conservative</p>