NY Refund - Can't reconcile TurboTax Estimate

[NYTaxQ]

I've completed the income portion of my return (have not completed the full return yet, as I'm awaiting one form still). I'm unable to reconcile my NY state refund vs. what I expect it to be by ~$2,600. I expect there to be some difference vs. my simple calculation, but this number seems way off (I'm fairly close on the federal, including FICA). Are there issues with how state is calculated until you've gone through the full list of deductions/answered the questions on those tabs? I'm not giving credit in my calculations for any deductions except the NY standard deduction in my calculation.

To try and succinctly summarize my math / calculation as follows. Married filing jointly and not living in NYC any part of the year (i.e., no city income tax). I've assumed all interest, dividends, and cap gains are taxed at my normal state tax rate.

W2 State Wages: $607, 015

Interest Income: $1,772

Dividends: $4,456 (qualified: $2,579, non-qualified: $1,878)

Capital Gain Distribution: $418

Equals: Total Income: $613,661   (note: this is based on income I've input and see in TurboTax)

Less: Standard Deduction: $(16,050)

Equals: Taxable Income: $597,611

Calculated Tax: $38,200

based on $19,403 plus 6.85% of amount over $323,200, or 38,200 = 19,403 + (0.0685 x (597,611-323,200))

Source: https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/taxes/new-york-state-tax

W2 Taxes Withheld: $52,668

Expected Refund: $14,468 = $52,668 - $38,200

TurboTax Listed Refund: $11,869

Difference: $(2,599)

[RaifH]

Nerd Wallet is using the wrong tax calculator. For your income and filing status, the correct tax calculator is Tax Computation Worksheet 3 in the NY IT-201 instructions. Your entire taxable income is multiplied by 6.85%

[NYTaxQ]

OK interesting and super helpful! Thank you. This gets me very close - now it shows my calculation as being $138 over the TurboTax calculation, likely because I've included qualified dividends.

Question though:

Why even have that line / table with the calculation I used in my , if you just wind up multiplying by the flat 6.85%? Is it essentially just used for taxable income of more than $323,200 and less than $373,200?

[LenaH]

No. The calculation is used if your New York AGI (line 33) is more than $323,200, but not more than $25,000,000, and your taxable income (line 38) is more than $323,200 but not more than $2,155,350. The instructions in the IT-201 state that If your New York AGI amount on Form IT-201, line 33, is more than $107,650, see pages 52 through 57 to compute your New York State tax, rather than the table that you are referring to. The table you are referring to is based on line 38, rather than line 33 and line 38. 

I have attached the worksheet below for the exact calculation.

@NYTaxQ

[NYTaxQ]

Thanks! It's strange, but using that chart I calculate more tax being paid by someone with taxable income of $373,199 instead of $373,200 (the threshold). Is that possible?

Taxable Income of $373,200 = $373,200 x 6.85% = NY State Taxes $25,564

Taxable Income of $373,199 = below calculation from worksheet provided = NY State Taxes $26,103

Line 1: NY AGI = $389,249 (taxable income of $373,199 plus $16,050 standard deduction)

Line 2: NY Taxable Income = $373,199

Line 3: Multiply Line 2 by 6.85% = $25,564

Line 4: NY State Tax Using Brackets = $22,828 (19,403 plus 6.85% of $373,199 less $323,200)

Line 5: Subtract Line 4 from Line 3 = $2,736

Line 6: Enter $1,056 = $1,056

Line 7: Subtract Line 6 from Line 5 = $1,680

Line 8: Enter Excess of Line 1 over $323,200 = $66,049

Line 9: Divide Line 8 by 50,000 to the fourth decimal = 1.3210

Line 10: Multiply Line 7 by Line 9 = $2,219

Line 11: Add Lines 4, 6, and 10 = $26,103

[LenaH]

No. The threshold is $323,200 for taxable income (line 38) and there is a different chart for taxable incomes below that.

I have attached the calculation below if your NY AGI (line 33) is more than $161,550, but not more than $25,000,000, and your taxable income (line 38) is more than $161,500, but not more than $323,200. 

Therefore, if taxable income was $323,199, then the calculation would be: $323,199 x .0633 = 20,458.49

@NYTaxQ