I owe the Fed x-amount of money, but am getting over half that number refunded in State.
Before you blast me, I KNOW Federal and State are separate entities, but this relates to filing in general overall:
Will I, A- end up paying the FULL x-amount to Fed up front and wait for State to deposit or will I, B- end up paying only the balance up front, if the Fed takes my State return?
No one is going to blast you There is often confusion over this issue -- but do understand that neither refund can be used to pay the tax due on the other one.
Your state tax due cannot be paid from your federal refund.
It is not possible to pay your state tax due from your federal refund, nor is it possible to pay a federal tax due from a state refund. The federal and state treasuries are completely separate from each other. You may have seen a TurboTax summary of your federal and state amounts that confused you into thinking one was “paying” the other. It is not. If you have federal tax due you can pay by mailing your payment with the 1040V voucher, having the payment taken out of a designated bank account, or you can pay directly on the IRS website.
https://www.irs.gov/payments/direct-pay
You must pay your state tax due using the state’s preferred method of receiving payment. For most states that will be by making a payment to the state’s own tax website, or by mailing a check or money order.
https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/tax-payments/help/how-can-i-pay-my-federal-taxes/00/26212