<prompt> Human: For the past two years, whenever my wife and I would file our taxes, our refunds end up being taken and paid towards her student loans. Thats fine. Its the only way we can afford to pay them. So we expect it. I have not finished filing our taxes this year because somehow we owe money even though our jobs are the same. Thats a different story and Ill figure that part out later. But the important info is that we have not filed this year. I just got a letter in the mail saying a check from the IRS is being applied to the student loans. The date is today. I dont know why wed be getting a check from the IRS already. The amount is 10 more than last years refund. So its not a repeat from last years number somehow. Did someone file our taxes for us and try to steal the money without realizing it would be garnished? Im kind of worried and of course its a Friday so I cant call until Monday. Assistant: One thing to consider is to change your W-4 and get the amount withheld down to a level where you do not get a refund. Not to prevent the garnishment but also so more of what you pay goes to the balance.Right now there is a fee charged by the Treasury to garnish your refund, a fee by the CA to file for it. So not all they are getting is going to the balance.If you lower your withholding enough and make payments using that monies to make payments maybe you can then work on rehabilitation. Then see if you qualify for IBR.Just make sure you do not go too low you do not want to owe on taxes next year.Human: Yeah we didnt change our w-4s and each got a little raise but somehow when I started our taxes this year it said we owed almost 200 which is over a 500 swing from last yearstandard deduction. I didnt understand why as we usually get a refund. So I didnt file and was going to revisit it to see what I did wrong, then I got this letter. Assistant: I didnt understand why as we usually get a refundBut you both made more income and didnt adjust withholding?Human: Correct. Assistant: That could be why you owe this year. You made more money but had the same amount withheld.Human: Even if we didnt get enough of a raise to move brackets?  <response>: Ultimately yes, more money taxed the same will still make more taxes. 100 x 10 is 10, 110 x 10 is 11. Additionally, if your wife was still in school and you were using the American Opportunity Tax Credit, it expires after four years. Not sure if thats the case but that is a reason why some see a large bump in taxes after education 