This is a sore topic with me this year. The wife and I always claim zero, and always have. We are a family of five with three child dependents. In the past we have always gotten back thousands at tax time. The previous year was around 5K, and 8k the year before that. Imagine my surprise when we got our tax bill and owed 1,800. This is a massive change on a year over year basis.

We are not self employed, She is a teacher and I work in middle management. We are not rich and do not have excessive income. I know others that had a similar large swing in the same direction, our situation is not unique. Luckily we had enough in the bank to make the payment. How many of those new penalties were families that are just getting by or are having to live on credit cards due to the inflation of the last few years. I would venture a guess that a lot of those new fines were middle class families that got caught by the same situation as me, expecting a refund as usual and getting a large bill instead.

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