Answer: The most likely reason for the smaller refund, despite the higher salary is that you are now in a higher tax bracket. And you likely didn't adjust your withholdings for the applicable tax year.
If your refund was less than you expected, it may have been reduced by the IRS or a Financial Management Service (FMS) to pay past-due child support, federal agency nontax debts, state income tax obligations, or unemployment compensation debts owed to a state.
If you didn't account for each job across your W-4s, you may not have withheld enough, so your tax refund could be less than expected in 2021. Not factoring eligibility changes for tax credits and deductions: There may be other impacts on your refund due to the credits you can take.
Depending on what amount of income and which credits you specify on the W-4, the more or less tax will be withheld. Having less taken out will give you bigger paychecks, but a smaller tax refund (or potentially no tax refund or a tax bill at the end of the year).
If your refund amount is different than you expected, it may be because we made changes to your tax return including corrections to any Recovery Rebate Credit or Child Tax Credit amounts. Also, all or part of your refund may have been used (offset) to pay off past-due tax or debts.
To find out if you may have an offset or if you have questions about an offset, contact the agency to which you owe the debt. We also may have changed your refund amount because we made changes to your tax return. You'll get a notice explaining the changes.
Many will be getting smaller-than-expected refunds, tax preparers say. Under the American Rescue Plan passed last year, two types of payments ended up in many folks' mailboxes or bank accounts: The 2021 tax credit was enhanced and paid partially in advance to 36 million families.
Ramon Christopher Blanchett, of Tampa, Florida, and self-described freelancer, managed to scoop up a $980,000 tax refund after submitting his self-prepared 2016 tax return. He also allegedly claimed that he earned a total of $18,497 in wages — and that he had withheld $1 million in income taxes, according to a Jan.
For the 2021 filing season, which covered returns filed for the 2020 calendar year, the average federal tax refund for individuals was $2,184.
If you're banking on a tax refund, it may be smaller, or you may owe money this season, according to financial experts. The advance child tax credit, paused student loan payments and year-end mutual fund payouts may cause higher taxable income for 2021.
Refund Less than Expected
If you receive a refund for a smaller amount than you expected, you may cash the check. You'll get a notice explaining the difference. Follow the instructions on the notice. If it's determined that you should have received more, you will later receive a check for the difference.
The IRS provides a toll-free number, (800) 304-3107, to call for information about tax offsets. You can call this number, go through the automated prompts, and see if you have any offsets pending on your social security number.
When you pay your TurboTax fees with your federal refund, the TurboTax fee plus a separate Refund Processing Service fee, are deducted from your total refund amount. So your IRS-issued tax refund might be around $35 or $40 less than the amount shown in TurboTax.
100% Accurate Calculations Guarantee: If you pay an IRS or state penalty or interest because of a TurboTax calculation error, we'll pay you the penalty and interest.
The American Rescue Plan, signed into law on March 11, 2021, expanded the Child Tax Credit for 2021 to get more help to more families. It has gone from $2,000 per child in 2020 to $3,600 for each child under age 6. For each child ages 6 to 16, it's increased from $2,000 to $3,000.
The IRS can also adjust your tax refund amount if it makes changes to your tax return. The IRS will send you a notice in the mail explaining the changes. The "Where's My Refund" tool will also note the reasons for a refund offset when it's related to a change made by the IRS to your tax return.
If your tax refund is lower than TurboTax quoted, it may be caused by a refund offset. This is when the government applies part or all of a taxpayer's refund towards the taxpayer's past-due income tax, child or spousal support, student loans, or state unemployment compensation debts.
If you earn less than $10,000 per year, you don't have to file a tax return. However, you won't receive an Earned-Income Tax Credit refund unless you do file.
That's because half of the expanded CTC was paid out in advance through monthly checks from July 2021 through December 2021 — and parents will claim the other half of the tax credit on their tax returns before the filing deadline of April 18, 2022.
If you didn't voluntarily withhold income taxes or didn't pay enough taxes this could reduce your refund to cover the taxes owed on the unemployment benefits. If your tax refund is smaller this year, know that it could be temporary as a result of the tax changes that took place just for 2021.
If you make $15,000 a year living in the region of California, USA, you will be taxed $1,518. That means that your net pay will be $13,483 per year, or $1,124 per month. Your average tax rate is 10.1% and your marginal tax rate is 33.1%.
In this case, gross income of $50,000 will be reduced by a standard deduction of $6,350 and a single personal exemption of $4,050. That makes taxable income equal to $39,600. That's just barely enough to push the taxpayer into the 25% tax bracket, and the tax will be $5,638.50.
If you make $120,000 a year living in the region of California, USA, you will be taxed $38,515. That means that your net pay will be $81,485 per year, or $6,790 per month. Your average tax rate is 32.1% and your marginal tax rate is 43.0%.