PASCO COUNTY, Fla. — Beginning April 1st, paychecks for most teachers and staff at Pasco County School District will look a little different.
“It is going to be a burden for some folks," Steve Hegarty, the public information officer for Pasco County Schools, said.
He tells ABC Action News that the district made a mistake and federal tax withholdings for around 8,000 employees were entered incorrectly.
“People got used to having a little bit more in there, by mistake on our part. And now we're taking out the proper amount and it's just something that people weren't used to. And it's a little bit less than they were expecting, but they shouldn't have had that in there in the first place," Hegarty said.
Now, Hegarty tells me, employees impacted will need to pay that back to the IRS when they file their taxes.
He added that those impacted will take home around $30 to $70 dollars less each pay period than what they were used to.
“For some people, it has much more of an impact than others... I know that that is a burden. So we're sorry that the mistake was made," Hegarty added.
We asked the COO of an accounting firm in Tampa Bay, how often does this happen?
“Never. And I say that because if they're on salaried, which they are, most people aren't part-time or hourly, then payroll is one of those things where you kind of set it and forget it. So it's automated.” Partner for CFO Associates, Stephanie Heredia, said.
She adds that there are things to look out for so that this kind of mistake doesn’t happen to you.
“The IRS has a withholding tool and all you need is your most recent pay stub, you enter in your wages, and then what they're withholding is like your filing status, and it'll tell you if you're on track or not...And I would check it a few times throughout the year,” Heredia said.
Hegarty adds that he doesn’t know how the mistake happened, but the correct tax tables will be taken out moving forward.
