Save a PDF of the 2014 return with all the worksheets included to double check your entries.
Did you file a joint tax return, and you both
had W-2s? You didn't give any details, but what probably happened is that you
entered your W-2 and your spouse's W-2 as if they were for the same person,
instead of one for you and one for your spouse. When you first start to enter a
W-2 in a joint return, you have to indicate whose W-2 it is. The W-2 summary
screen ("Here's your W-2 info") shows which one of you each W-2 was
entered for.
You both had Social Security tax withheld from
your pay. The maximum Social Security withholding has to be calculated
separately for each person. When you enter both W-2s as if they were for the
same person, it makes it look like that person had too much Social Security tax
withheld. The amount that appears to be excess Social Security tax goes on 1040
line 71. If you had entered each W-2 for the correct person, TurboTax would
have seen that there was no excess Social Security tax, and it would not have
put anything on line 71.
You received a refund of the excess Social
Security tax shown on line 71 of your tax return. But because of the error
entering the W-2s, it was not really excess and you were not entitled to that
refund. So now you have to pay it back.
