When do deductions & credits entered adjust my "fed and state balances due" shown in the header? It would be a nice "auto adjust" feature to estimate my final payment.

[jamminjamy]

I tried to enter the bulk of my deductions and clicked on the "wrap up tax breaks" button hoping to get an idea of how this will affect my final taxes owed but it doesn't seem to be changing anything? It would be great if this game me an "on the fly" update of taxes owed, thanks for your time!

[VolvoGirl]

It is "on the fly".  Maybe you didn't notice it update after each entry?  So when you got to the end it was already affected.

[AnthonyC · Accepted solution]

The refund meter shown in TurboTax Online does update in relative real-time.  If you have entered all your income and deductions and never saw the refund meter change at all, then you might want to start by just logging out (save first) and log back in as it may just be a browser issue.  You could also try switching browsers.

If you are not seeing any change in taxes due, then you may still be in the standard deduction despite entering all your possible deductions.  This means that the standard deduction is giving you a greater tax benefit than your individual deductions and that is why the refund meter will not change.

The other possible scenario is that the taxes owed are coming from self employment taxes (I see you are posting from TurboTax Self Employed) - and personal deductions (such as charity, mortgage interest) will not reduce the amount of self employment tax owed.  So, this could be another reason the meter is not changing.

In your case, it might be beneficial to view your tax summary to get a better understanding of why you owe tax.  On the left side of your screen, there should be an option for Tax Tools.  Select "Tools" from the dropdown and choose View My Tax Summary.  You will then be able to see a more detailed breakdown of your income and deductions and the calculations behind your tax due (you can also select Preview my 1040 on the lefthand side after you select View My Tax Summary to get a preview of your actual tax form)

[jamminjamy]

Anthony, thanks for taking the time to write such a thorough answer! I believe you are right about this "personal deductions (such as charity, mortgage interest) will not reduce the amount of self employment tax owed.  So, this could be another reason the meter is not changing." I guess I was expecting the personal deductions to make a difference in this case, thanks again!