Hi personalfinance! I'm confused about the difference in my take home pay and my reported wages. I'll keep it short and simple.

• I filed (Single status) already online, but re-did some math and am left confused! I worked for ~6.5 months in CA this year, and 5.5 months in NY. I'm now a permanent resident in NY, state not city.

• I have 2 exceptions (?), and I'm not sure why. When I started my job in 2014 it was recommended that way since I claimed my now-passed on mother as a dependent, but she passed in 2015 and I let my HR department know and to change accordingly.

• I made roughly 40k, and the total tax and voluntary deductions (including my health insurance, and 401k) for 2016 off my pay add up to ~9,800. My take home was only 21k, which is a 19k+ difference from my total wages claimed on my W-2.

I can't account for the additional ~9,200 anywhere in any numbers given to me for my total taxes/deductions.

Any thoughts on where that number could come into play, outside of my listed state and federal income taxes, health insurance, disability, and (small) 401k?

• When I did my taxes, I received a refund of $65 federal, $7 from CA, and owed $44 in NY. Those numbers also don't make a ton of sense to me but I'm more worried about the previous discrepancy.

Thank you to anyone who can explain/help!