What do I include in the "Total of all your payments and withholding" when trying to enter a 1099-G?

[KrisD]

"Total of all your payments and withholding" means "what did you pay to that taxing agency (state or local) in 2016" (or the year of the refund), including what was withheld and any other additional payments made in 2016. DO NOT include any estimated tax you paid for tax year 2016 but you paid after Dec. 31, 2016. If the 1099-G is for a tax refund, the program is trying to determine if it is taxable. 

If the refund is from 2016, and you used the "Standard Deduction" on your 2016 return (you did not itemize), the refund is not taxable and does not need to be reported. 

If you did itemize in 2016 but used Sales Tax Paid, rather than State/Local Income Tax Paid, it is not taxable and does not need to be reported.

If you did itemize in 2016 and used the State and/or Local Income Tax Paid last year, the refund may be taxable this year depending on 1) when you paid the tax, 2) how it affects your itemized deductions versus the available standard deduction this year and/or last. 

You may need to look on your 2016 return to answer this particular question. 

You can also check the tax return that matches the refund. For example, if the refund is from a 2016 Michigan return, look at the 2016 MI-1040 that you filed and see what is reported as "Payments and withheld". 

[edahlseng]

Thanks for the help! To clarify, this total is only supposed to include payments to the agency for which the refund is coming from? For example, if I paid $1,000 in taxes to state X, and I received a refund for $100 from state X, then I would list $1,000 as the "Total of all your payments and withholding" and $100 for the total refund (without including anything from federal or other states, etc.)?

[KrisD]

That is correct. If you were to get a refund from the state and a refund from the county, each refund would be reported with the corresponding "last year's payments".

[dscheule]

This wasn't originally my question, but I've got a horse in this race too (ie a similar question submitted).  You said "DO NOT include any estimated tax you paid for tax year 2016 but you paid after Dec. 31, 2016."  I think I understand your logic, but the TT program, within the link regarding What Does This Include?, specifically says, "Estimated tax payments for 2016. Add any paid in 2017 for 2016 (it's common for the forth quarterly payment to be made in January)".  Does this portion of the TT program need to be revised?

[jpb1480]

Can you please tell me what box to find the total in my state return from last year????

[aarw76]

What about Total indiana Tax and Total Indiana Tax credit?

[EitherWay]

Hi Kris, I was wondering why "2016"? Are we talking about 2019 tax return (in year of 2020)?

Thanks

[AnnetteB6]

The concept of the answer above given by user KrisD is correct even though the date is showing 2016.  The original question was asked a few years ago and copied into this forum because the concept is still applicable for current year information.  

Just read the answer as if '2016' was replaced by '2018'.  When preparing your 2019 return, you will see questions being asked about your 2018 tax return.

@EitherWay

[MT in MD]

Not trying to beat a dead horse here, but do want to ensure clarity.  I'm doing my son's taxes--he's in college in another state and filed two returns last year for our home state (on summer income) and the state where he's going to college.  We received a 1099-G for his out-of-state refund.

Because he took the standard deduction, he does not/not need to report the 1099-G for the refund.

However, if he did not take the standard deduction, we would only report the payments made to the one state that provided the 1099-G, right?  We would not include payments made to the other state.

Thanks for your patience with the amateurs.

[danilava]

This is confusing but possibly moot. My daughter received a state refund for tax year 2019 for $302.  The amount was received in March 2020. Now, while doing her 2020 taxes, following the "state refund" field is the "payments and withholdings" field, which defaults to that same amount, $302.  However, according to the completed tax form, it reports her state refund as $604.  Yes, it doubled the amount of the check actually received. In the end, I don't think the refund is even being counted as income but it still makes no sense to me that it keeps showing the refund as $604, when the amount of the refund was only $302, which was confirmed by the deposit in her bank account $302.  Why is the program doubling the actual amount received??  Thanks for your thoughts!

[SamS1]

There has been a few issues with the 1099-G doubling. The option would be to delete the form and re-enter.  However, this should not be an issue if she took the standard deduction in 2019.  The state tax refund will not be taxable on her 2020 return.  Try reviewing your forms in TurboTax and deleting the 1099G. While in your return in TurboTax:

• In the left hand column select "Tax Tools"
• Select "Tools"
• Select "Delete a form"
• Review for 1099-G
• Delete selected form then "Back"
• Return to TurboTax and re-enter the 1099G

The pandemic has affected your taxes in many ways. Including reporting in TurboTax the amount of stimulus money you received. Click Here for more information on how the Pandemic affected your 2020  taxes.

[Craig_S]

I'm just looking to clarify the year for which the total payments and withholding amount is to be included.   

1.  For a refund received in 2020, but is for an amended 2018 return, is the total payments and withholding amount that which was included in the amended 2018 return?  The pop-up help window ("What does this include"), only refers to the "previous tax year" which in this case would be 2019.

2.  Is the total amount, the detail that is provided on the TurboTax, File By Mail Instruction sheet, in the Tax Return Summary section which reads, "Total Payments/Credits Corrected Amount"?

thank you

[Irene2805]

It refers to the 2018 return.  TurboTax is calculating how much, if any, of the refund is taxable.

The total amount of "payments and withholding" includes any payments you made to your state or locality, along with any state or locality withholdings from the previous tax year, including:

• Amounts withheld on your W-2, W-2G, and 1099
• Estimated tax payments for 2018
• Add any taxes paid in 2019 for 2018 (it's common for the fourth quarterly payment to be made in January)
• Overpayment from 2017 applied toward your 2018 return
• Payments made with an extension of time to file
• Payments made when you filed your return
• Refundable credits

You can find most of this info on your 2018 state tax return.

[Craig_S]

thanks