If my state tax is more than my federal tax is that normal?

[rjs]

State tax and federal tax are completely separate calculations. One has no effect on the other. State tax could be more or less than federal tax.

[myran-jones]

What could be the reason for this though?

[rjs]

That's just the way it is. There is no reason to expect that the state tax would be less than the federal tax, or that they would be the same. One has nothing to do with the other. There are many factors that affect the amount of tax for both state and federal. It just happened to work out that your state tax is more than your federal tax.

If you still have questions about this, please clarify exactly what tax amount you are looking at. Are you talking about the total tax calculated on your tax return, or are you talking about the refund or amount that you owe? What is the form number and line number are you looking at on each tax return, and what state are you in?

[myran-jones]

I’m in Missouri and I’m specifically talking about my state tax it’s says I’m getting back over $2000 but my federal is less than $500 so I’m just trying to figure out why so much

[rjs]

The fact that your state refund is more than your federal refund is beside the point. It doesn't mean anything. The federal refund doesn't indicate anything about how much your state refund should be. A more meaningful comparison would be to compare to last year's state tax. How much was your state refund last year? If your state tax refund this year is around the same as last year's state tax refund, and your income and other factors are about the same, then it's probably correct. If this year's state refund is much higher than last year's, and there were no major changes in your income or other factors, compare last year's and this year's state tax returns line by line and see where the significant differences are. That should indicate what is causing the difference, or where to look to see if you made a mistake entering something. There's no way to tell whether your state tax return is correct or not without looking at the return, which we can't do here in AnswerXchange.

[SweetieJean]

Federal and State tax laws are different.

http://dor.mo.gov/forms/4711_2017.pdf

[stephhudson]

It can depend on how you file with federal. One way you get back more each paycheck but less at tax time or the other you get less on your check but  more with taxes. State has nothing to do with federal 

[Mrpotatohead75]

Why does it say I’m getting over $5,000 for my state tax return but my federal, I’m only getting $400 ? That makes no sense to me ! I need someone to explain this to me please!

[Mrpotatohead75]

well I live in the state of Missouri . Last year my tax refund was $1,300 federal and my state was $200 . But for some reason, this year it’s the exact opposite. My federal was $400 and my state was $5,700 . I’m like what the hell ! 

[Mrpotatohead75]

Me too !!!! Can someone explain this please !?!

[xmasbaby0]

@Mrpotatohead75 You should double check what you entered from your W-2's for the state income and state tax withheld and see if you entered something incorrectly from boxes 16 or 17 of your W-2(s).   

[TaxPayer007]

I'm not talking about my refund, my overall tax liability for federal is about $1,200 and for state (California) it is about $4,000. 

This seems bizarre to me - any explanations, why this could be? 

Thanks! 

[AmyC]

@TaxPayer007 Review your state income is correct. The state and federal have different tax rates, different credits, the only thing you can do is check that the numbers on the form are correct and that the forms are filled out correctly.

[TaxPayer007]

Seems odd nonetheless... especially when state tax liability is three and a half times the federal liability...