Im filing my taxes, and last year i only worked 4 months and got 494 dollars back, this year i worked a full 12 months and its saying my return is only 391 dollars

[jaymenbrown22]

so I feel like my return should be a lot more this year than last year considering I have the same job and ive been promoted and nothing else has changed. ive been promoted and I worked a full twelve month year. and I'm getting less return

[xmasbaby0]

Did you get earned income credit last year? No one on Answer Xchange can see your return.  There are are lot of variables that affect your refund or tax due including how much you earned, how much tax you had withheld, your filing status, the number of dependents you claim, your deductions and credits, etc.  You may have lost Earned Income Credit or the Child Tax Credit. Or do you have a healthcare penalty?  The best way to find the difference is to print and compare 2015 and 2016 side by side

And of course, always check your own data entries, looking for errors such as misplaced decimals or extra zeros.

[mykai95]

literally nothing has changed from my filing status except my promotion and the amount of time I worked

[Critter]

Everything changed ... you made a lot more money ... had more taxes withheld ... owed more taxes but had just enough withheld so your refund is small like last year.  Actually what you describe is quite normal ... you didn't pay too much.   

The tax return is just one long math problem ... so to see how each tax year is calculated you really need to set them side by side and compare them line by line.  If you still don't understand then ask a friend/family member/ local tax pro to help you decipher them.