Effective Tax Rate in Error - Bug?

user17714745664 — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 18:48:56 GMT

The calculation of effective tax rate is not correct (way low). Effective tax rate is a simple calculation ((Total Tax / Taxable Income) x 100%). Some sources compute it based on AGI, so I'll show both. In either case, TurboTax's result doesn't line up with either.

TurboTax shows an Effective Tax Rate of 5.41% when my Total Tax is $23,282 and Taxable Income is $73,925. The correct result is 31.49%.

If using AGI ($137,370) as the denominator instead, the result is 16.95%.

What numbers does TurboTax use to calculate Effective Tax Rate? I can't figure it out and the discrepancy makes me a bit concerned about the overall integrity of the product.

Re: Effective Tax Rate in Error - Bug?

user17714745664 — Sat, 21 Feb 2026 18:16:32 GMT

I figured out how TurboTax is calculating Effective Tax Rate, and it appears to be correct when figured against AGI. The issue is the "Total Tax" includes self-employment tax (FICA & Medicare) paid and the Effective Tax Rate excludes self-employment tax (correctly). Tax paid w/o self-employment tax is $7435, which is 5.41% of AGI.

Would be nice if the cover sheet summary reminded users that the Total Tax is not Income Tax but includes other taxes paid via the 1040 reporting process.

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Effective Tax Rate in Error - Bug?

Re: Effective Tax Rate in Error - Bug?