Thank you very much, DawnC for your post, but unfortunately, I'm still very confused. First, I don't know what Earned Income Credit is. My income situation is very simple. I have a job and I get a W2. My wife is retired and she gets a 1099-R. We get a little bit of dividend income and interest that are easy to handle with the 1099 Div and 1099 INT. And then we have these two places we rent out (long term). This has never ever happened before.
My tax meter is showing that I owe. (Red numbers with the words, "Federal Tax Due" above them.) I'll enter an expense, like insurance and then the meter shows an even higher number, meaning that I owe more. I'll enter another expense, like real estate taxes...and once again, the meter shows that I owe even more.
I think this is a nuance of Turbo Tax, but I would like to understand it. You see, way back after I entered my W2, info, Turbo Tax asked (I always let Turbo Tax walk me through everything.) if I had an 1099-MISC, I said this yes, and every year, this where I put in the block 1, "Rents" number from my 1099-MISCs. Turbo Tax did not ask me to enter expenses at this point. All it wanted to know is the 1099 MISC info. When I was done with that it goes to 1099 INT and DIV. Anyway, when I put in the block 1 "Rents" amount for both places, my refund (at this point I had a refund [green numbers with the word refund above in the tax meter] increased. Not a lot, but the refund absolutely increased.
Why is this happening, I'm so confused. Your help is much appreciated. Thank you.
