Does anyone know why I got $1400 refund last year and only $78 this year when my filing status did not change and my income stayed relatively the same?

[xmasbaby0]

Last year did you get the $1400 recovery rebate credit for the third stimulus payment?  Was there $1400 on line 30 of your Form 1040 for 2021?

There is no stimulus for 2022.   And some other tax laws have changed too.

We cannot see your screen, your return or your account.  Have you entered ALL of your 2022 information?  All your income, etc.?  Many tax documents that you need do not arrive until late January or even February, so maybe you do not have it all there yet.

There is no recovery rebate credit (stimulus $) for 2022.  The childcare credit is not refundable. The child tax credit is different.  And for some people, earned income is different because there is no “lookback” to an earlier year.  Those are some of the reasons your refund may be less.

There are a 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— did a child turn 17?  If you received the EIC last year, remember that changes in the amount you earn have a big effect on the amount of EIC you can get. (Sometimes earning more money means less EIC)  Are you 65 or older ?  If so, your standard deduction is higher. Everyone has a higher standard deduction now so it is harder to use itemized deductions.

And…..the child tax credit is very different for 2022    For 2021 you could get $3600 for a child under 6 or $3000 for a child between 6 and 17 even if you had no income/did not work.   That is NOT the way it will work for your 2022 tax return.  The “old” rules are back.   The maximum amount of the child tax credit is now $2000; the refundable “additional child tax credit” amount is $1500.   In order to get that credit, you have to have income from working.  The credit is calculated based on the amount you earned above $2500 multiplied by 15%, up to the full $1500.  If your child is older than 16 at the end of 2022, you do not get the CTC.  But you may still get the non-refundable $500 credit for other dependents instead.

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

https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/tax-refund/refund-go-compared-last-year/...

Print out 2021  and 2022  and compare them side by side to see what is different. 

https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/tax-payments/video-why-would-i-owe-federal-taxes/L3VXudPiN

[JohnB5677]

The only way to know for sure is to compare the two tax returns.

Your tax refund is based on several things.

1. Total Income
   1. You are taxed on total income, not on each individual income source.
   2. The combined income will be taxed higher than any individual source.
   3. Be sure to confirm that you have accounted for every income source.
2. Withholdings
   1. Each income source may have their own withholding,
   2. If you didn’t tell your employer that you had other income, you may not have had sufficient withholdings.
   3. Be sure that all withholding amounts have been properly accounted for.
3. Deductions
   1. Deductions represent the amount that can be subtracted from your income before the tax calculation is completed.
   2. There are two ways to get the deductions.
      1. The standard deduction for single filers is $12,950. 
      2. Itemized deductions are an accumulation of various authorized deductions.
      3. If you choose to post the Itemized deductions, TurboTax will determine the alternative that is to your best advantage.
4. Credits 
   1. Credits represent an actual amount that reduces your Tax or increases your Refund.
   2. There are a variety of credits that will significantly impact your taxes.
   3. Tax laws change regularly, and the criteria for Credits can change drastically.
   4. If you received a credit in a previous year that you didn’t get in the current year, it will have a significant impact.

If you have your previous year's tax return you should compare it to the current tax return and evaluate any changes.

If you have the Desktop version of TurboTax, you can see your current tax return (1040) under the FORMS mode.

If you’re Online, you can see your 1040 by going to:

1. Tax Tools (on the sidebar)
2. Tools
3. From the dropdown View Tax Summary
4. On the sidebar Preview my 1040

[Taylorm1696]

I also got 78 dollars I also got the stimulus money in 2021 but got 600$ in 2022 idk why I got 78$

[ee-ea]

@Taylorm1696 

A great way to find out what happened is to make a line by line comparison of this return and the prior one(s).