Can you explain to me why I owe taxes this year?

lostboy2480 — Tue, 10 Feb 2026 09:03:55 GMT

Re: Can you explain to me why I owe taxes this year?

xmasbaby0 — Tue, 30 Jan 2024 21:54:55 GMT

We cannot see your tax return. So.....we can give you some good guesses and provide you with some information that might help you figure it out.

Have you entered ALL of your 2023 information? All your income, etc.? Many tax documents that you need do not arrive until late January or even February, so maybe you do not have it all there yet.

Lots of tax laws changed. Those changes are resulting in lower refunds for lots of people.

There is no recovery rebate credit (stimulus $) for 2023. The childcare credit is less and is not refundable. The child tax credit is different and it is less. And for some people, earned income credit is different because there is no “lookback” to an earlier year. Those are some of the reasons your refund may be less.

There are a lot of variables that affect your refund or tax due including how much you earned, how much tax you had withheld, your filing status, the number of dependents you claim, your deductions and credits, etc. You may have lost Earned Income Credit or the Child Tax Credit— did a child turn 17? If you received the EIC last year, remember that changes in the amount you earn have a big effect on the amount of EIC you can get. (Sometimes earning more money means less EIC) Are you 65 or older ? If so, your standard deduction is higher. Everyone has a higher standard deduction now so it is harder to use itemized deductions.

And…..the child tax credit is very different for 2023 For 2021 you could get $3600 for a child under 6 or $3000 for a child between 6 and 17 even if you had no income/did not work. That is NOT the way it will work for your 2023 tax return. The “old” rules are back. The maximum amount of the child tax credit is now $2000; the refundable “additional child tax credit” amount is $1600. In order to get that credit, you have to have income from working. The credit is calculated based on the amount you earned above $2500 multiplied by 15%, up to the full $1600. If your child is older than 16 at the end of 2023, you do not get the CTC. But you may still get the non-refundable $500 credit for other dependents instead.

And of course, always check your own data entries, looking for errors such as misplaced decimals or extra zeros.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/tax-refund/refund-go-compared-last-year/L97JmhUbi_US_en_US?uid=ld9ijm41

Print out 2022 and 2023 and compare them side by side to see what is different.

https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/tax-payments/video-why-would-i-owe-federal-taxes/L3VXudPiN

Re: Can you explain to me why I owe taxes this year?

DoninGA — Tue, 30 Jan 2024 21:57:03 GMT

No one can see your tax return.

It usually is because you did not have enough taxes withheld from your wages that would be greater than your tax liability on your taxable income.

Look at your Form 1040 and follow the lines down through the form

Click on Tax Tools on the left side of the online program screen. Click on Tools. Click on View Tax Summary. Click on Preview my 1040 on the left side of the screen.

topic Can you explain to me why I owe taxes this year? in Get your taxes done using TurboTax

Can you explain to me why I owe taxes this year?

Re: Can you explain to me why I owe taxes this year?

Re: Can you explain to me why I owe taxes this year?