Most people see their refund go down, sometimes by a lot, after entering a second W-2. This is because we start you off with the full Standard Deduction, which we subtract from the income you’ve entered so far. You don’t get this deduction with each W-2 you enter, just the first one. This means your second W-2 will appear to be taxed more, but what’s really happening is that you’re getting a more accurate picture of your income.
Married couples will also see this occur when a spouse's W-2 is added to the return. You'll get the standard deduction of $25,100 for married couples with the first W-2 you enter, but no additional deduction when you add the second W-2. Since each spouse would only get a standard deduction of $12,550 if they filed separately, it's uncommon for couples where both spouses work to be better off if they file separately instead of jointly.
Your refund will also depend on how much your employers withheld in taxes during the year based on the W-4 they have for you. This can vary between employers and result in not having enough tax withheld to cover your total income for the year. You can ask your employers to increase your withholding to avoid this issue in the future.
Note: The Deductions Credits section is yet to come—we’ll walk you through it after you’ve finished entering all of your income. Your refund amount gets more accurate as you go along and will stop fluctuating once you've finished entering all of your information.
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