Why is my employer not witholding enough federal taxes? And also not paying overtime?

I just took on a new job and after getting my paycheck, I notice 2 very odd things:

1: I got paid a gross amount of 1300 but they only took out 7 dollars for federal tax. That's not even 1%! I put that I am married and put a 2 for my W-4. I have had previous jobs where I did the exact same filing status and they took out about 15-20% each pay period for federal taxes.

Is this normal? I asked my employer and they said that is just their "policy". I know that if I don't pay enough taxes for this year and when I file for 2007 the IRS can charge me a penalty for that but how can I control what my employer deducts?
Is there anyway to avoid this penalty?

And here is the other odd thing.

I worked 44 hours one week yet they aren't paying me 1.5 times my wage. They are just paying me my regular wage.I thought overtime has to be paid at least 1.5 times your wage? I haven't asked my employer yet about that but if they refuse to pay the overtime wage can I do something about that?

If the $1,300 is for one week they are taking out much less than will be required. That amount is about right for a monthly income. Perhaps they misread the charts. As for the overtime issue that is a state issue but normally the requirement is to pay overtime for more than 40 hours in a week. You could report them to the state labor board.

1. If you can't get them to take more than 7 dollars out for the federal taxes for 2 people, change the W-4 to zero (sorry for the mistake of saying 9, that would decrease the amount they would take, not increase it). If they don't take enough out, perhaps a report to the IRS that they are not withholding the proper amount of taxes would help.

2. Yes, you're supposed to be paid at a rate of at least 1.5 times your normal wage. If they refuse, report them to the State Labor Board.

Also, here's a link to the IRS' Federal Withholding Calculator Program. If the company can't figure out how to properly withhold taxes, this program is supposed to help it.

http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0...

Here's another article that may help too:
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p919.pdf

As far as the withholdings, it is not up to them. If you want to see the amount that they should withhold, go to http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p15.pdf pages 37-58.

The best solution is to file a new W-4 and enter the amount by which you want your withholdings increased where it says "6 Additional amount, if any, you want withheld from each paycheck".

If that does not work, your other option is to send the IRS the money yourself during the year. Use the vouchers that come with Form 1040-ES to do this. The total of payments and withholdings must be:
By April 15, 25% of your tax for the previous year or 22.5% of your tax for the current year
By June 15, 50% of your tax for the previous year or 45% of your tax for the current year
By September 15, 75% of your tax for the previous year or 67.5% of your tax for the current year
By January 15, 100% of your tax for the previous year or 90% of your tax for the current year
All deadlines that fall on a holiday or a weekend are extended to the next business day.
In extreme cases, they are extended longer (for example, the September 2001 deadline was extended because of 9/11).

Something's smelly here. Do not go in and change your exemptions to 9! Go and claim zero exemptions. If you are on salary, forget the overtime. They'd win that one. If not, they owe you. Are they taking .076% for SS taxes? Check on that, too. Company policy, my fat aunt's fanny!