Tax bills and smaller refunds are shocking many Americans

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NY) - The new tax law meant a bit more money in people's paychecks. But it also created plenty of complications at tax season.

The issues are amplified in New York and New Jersey, which are high-tax states. The IRS said it will make changes to ease some of the problems but those changes won't happen for at least another year.

George Dimov, a certified public accountant, told Fox 5 said many of his clients are surprised that this year they either got smaller refunds or even owe money to the IRS. Dimov said he had to hire a full-time person just to have difficult phone calls with taxpayers who are shocked.

Responding to criticism and changes created by the new tax law, the IRS is planning big changes to the W-4 form so that the amount your employer withholds for taxes in each paycheck won't lead to a big surprise come tax season. But that won't happen until at least 2020.

So until then, Dimov had some advice. Take the amount you ended up owing the IRS this year and divide that by the number of remaining pay periods this year. That is the amount that you need to increase your tax withholding through your employer. Dimov said talk to your human resources department to make sure that happens.

Check out the IRS Withholding Calculator here.