State Refund Higher than Federal?

[Jen0806]

Hi, first time posting here. I've been doing my own taxes using the free TurboTax filer since about 2014. I just filed my taxes today and I noticed my state refund is higher than my federal refund. This has never happened before. The federal refund amount seems normal, it's just the state refund is much higher than usual; usually it's under $100, this time it's just over $200. To compare, it was $65 last year. I only had my W-2 to input and didn't have any changes this year aside from getting a small raise, working more hours so I made more, and I'm no longer being listed as a dependent on my mom's taxes.

I did nothing different from past years, but this has me worried I messed up somewhere along the way. Is the state refund being higher than the federal refund normal/something that can happen?

[AnnetteB6]

It is certainly possible that your state refund can be higher than your Federal one.  It just seems like it should always be the other way around because there are usually more credits and deductions available on the Federal side that can put more money in your pocket.  

However, with a simple return claiming only W-2 income, it is unlikely that anything is wrong.  The change that was made in your situation by not being claimed as a dependent probably increased your standard deduction on both returns, but it just had a bigger impact on the state.