My State taxes for Virginia seem wrong

[Brock17]

Have completed my Federal taxes.  However, then TurboTax did my Virginia state taxes, it says I am getting a large refund when I usually pay. Also in the review page, it says I have page $799 in Virginia taxes, but when I add up my W2s (I have two) the figure is different.  Help!

[JotikaT2]

It depends.

On your Virginia taxes, make sure you are looking at the amount of income taxes withheld from W-2 forms, instead of the overall tax amount or payments as you may have had other forms, credits or estimated tax payments included in that amount.

I recommend reviewing your input against all of your source documents.  Ensure the values match the source documents for your income and deduction items.

Also, there are many factors that go into determining your overall tax refund, such as other sources of income or credits you could be entitled to.

It essentially depends upon your overall tax return from 2019 to 2020.  Any changes from year to year will impact your overall refund or tax liability when you file.

In TurboTax, you can view your tax summary for your 2020 tax return by doing the following:

1. Go into the black panel on the left and select Tax Tools. 
2. Then select Tools beneath Tax Tools. 
3. A "Tools Center" box will pop up, select "View Tax Summary" 
4. You will see a screen that gives a snapshot of your taxes based upon your input so far. 
5. Click on the black panel on the left bar and select Preview my Virginia taxes
6. This will allow you to review your overall line items on your state tax return.  Compare these amounts to your actual tax return for 2019 to help you determine why there is such a large difference from year to year.

After you review the above items, simply select "Back" in the black panel to get back to the interview forms. 

If you prefer, TurboTax does have the "Live" option where you can get support from an Expert.  Please see the following link for more information on this service.

Live service options

[fjscott78]

Mine are also wrong. TurboTax appears to be excluding my capital gains from VA taxes based on the amount it has calculated (a refund about the usual size for me, rather then a small amount owed that I get when looking at the tax table outside of TurboTax) even though my gains are not from a tax-exempt qualified business or sale of VA bonds, and I have indicated that in TurboTax.

[BillM223]

You say that you said, "no", when asked if any of the capital gains were from Virginia bonds.

Were your gains long-term capital gains?

On the screen "Federally Taxed Long-term Capital Gains" in the Virginia interview, when TurboTax showed you the Capital Gains from the federal return, did you answer YES or NO to whether or not the sales met ALL the requirements?

When I answer NO, I see the capital gains on the VA return.

On what line on VA form 760 would you expect to see the capital gains, but you don't?

[Anonymous]

Does Virginia's exclusion of capital gains on Virginia bonds apply to capital gains distributions on Virginia tax-exempt bond mutual funds as well?

[HopeS]

There is no Virginia tax on US Treasury bonds. Va. Code §58.1-322 C provides a subtraction, to the extent included in federal adjusted gross income

1. Interest or dividends on obligations of the United States and on obligations or securities of any authority, commission, or instrumentality of the United States to the extent exempt from state income taxes under the laws of the United States including, but not limited to, stocks, bonds, treasury bills, and treasury notes, but not including interest on refunds of federal taxes, interest on equipment purchase contracts, or interest on other normal business transactions.

2. Interest in obligations of this Commonwealth or of any political subdivision or instrumentality of this Commonwealth.

In the Virginia state tax section, look for the page that says "Here's the income that Virginia handles differently".  You will enter under Investments= Exempt US Bond Income.

@Anonymous