topic My refund is not reflected in the estimated tax payments for 2026 in Get your taxes done using TurboTax

My refund is not reflected in the estimated tax payments for 2026

drewfraser33 — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 19:46:30 GMT

Re: My refund is not reflected in the estimated tax payments for 2026

DoninGA — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 19:52:42 GMT

Did you apply your 2024 tax refund to the 2025 taxes? If so -

To enter, change or delete a refund from the prior year applied to this years taxes (Federal, State, Local) -

Click on Federal Taxes (Personal using Home and Business)
Click on Deductions and Credits
Click on I'll choose what I work on (if shown)
Scroll down to Estimates and Other Taxes Paid
On Income Taxes Paid, click on the start or update button

On the next screen select the options under 2024 Refund Applied to 2025

The prior year federal tax refund amount applied is shown on Form 1040 Line 26

Re: My refund is not reflected in the estimated tax payments for 2026

drewfraser33 — Tue, 24 Feb 2026 19:32:45 GMT

My question related to applying the 2025 refund toward the 2026 estimates. Your answer (and the TurboTax software) lets me apply a 2024 refund to 2025 taxes. My own approach was to make the change on the 1040 itself, but that brought about no adjustment to the 2026 estimates. I finally resolved the problem by claiming the refund and leaving the estimates as is.

Re: My refund is not reflected in the estimated tax payments for 2026

DoninGA — Tue, 24 Feb 2026 20:06:34 GMT

@drewfraser33 Sorry for the confusion. This is what you were looking for -

To add, change or delete a current year federal tax refund to next year's taxes before you file your tax return -

Click on Federal Taxes (Personal using Home and Business)
Click on Other Tax Situations
Under Additional Tax Payments
On Apply Refund to Next Year, click on the start or update button

The amount applied to next years taxes will be shown on Form 1040 Line 36

Re: My refund is not reflected in the estimated tax payments for 2026

drewfraser33 — Wed, 25 Feb 2026 16:34:32 GMT

Yes, that works. However, altering the refund directly on the 1040 does not seem to work.

Re: My refund is not reflected in the estimated tax payments for 2026

dFCAdsfvadfvdsf — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 21:21:18 GMT

That method did not work for me.

I get a dialog box that says "You can apply as much of your 2025 refund as you wish to your 2026 estimated tax bill. But the most you can apply is $xx", where $xx is an amount approx 1/3 of my refund.

When I enter a number equal to my refund, I get an error message: "The amount should be less than or equal to the actual refund" and it won't let me proceed.

Turbotax is more buggy this year than other years.

Re: My refund is not reflected in the estimated tax payments for 2026

RobertB4444 — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 14:19:17 GMT

Is the amount that it is trying to apply equal to the first estimated payment? Or maybe the first two?