State Tax refund amount changed ?

[Tyler63]

I had a refund from my state showing on turbotax for over $900 but when I switched from e-filing to doing it by mail, Turbotax started showing my refund as $0. Is there a reason why doing it by mail will cause me to lose my entire state refund?

[LeticiaF1]

Filing by mail shouldn't change your refund amount. ‌I would suggest that you review the whole return, starting with the federal return.  TurboTax transfers data from your federal return to your state return. Before you begin troubleshooting your state return, go back through your federal return and make sure everything is correct.

After you review your federal return, select the State Taxes tab and review the state section. Pay close attention to the information, especially if you have made changes to your federal return. There might be new sections that need to be completed. 

You can also preview your return by following the steps below:

1. Sign in to TurboTax
2. Open or continue your return by selecting Start 
3. Select Tax Tools from the menu
4. With the Tax Tools menu open
5. Preview your entire return: Select Print Center and then Print, save or preview this year's return (you may be asked to register or pay first)
6. View only your 1040 form: Select Tools. Next, select View Tax Summary in the pop-up, then Preview my 1040 in the left menu.

If you continue having issues, you can try these steps if you are using the online version:

• Clearing your Cache and Cookies
• Using a different browser
• Opening an Incognito Window

Please reach out again if your problem persists.  
 

[VolvoGirl]

Check your actual tax return.  Does it show a refund? See if it's on another line to apply it to next year.  There is a question at the end that says you have an overpayment and if you want to apply it.  Did you see that one?

You might have told it to keep your refund and apply it as an estimated payment to next year.  Did you file it yet?  If not then go through the State tab again, probably near the end and look for that screen again to change it.  Change it to No and delete the amount.

[cmary294]

we had the same issue. my son is a high school student and works part time. while going through the entire process it consistently showed him getting a total refund of approx $300. After we got done triple checking his info for accuracy we elected to print and mail the return. the amount decreased to $33. Seems as if turbotax isn't accurate and is misleading. Why would the amount change bc we wanted to print? why would it show a larger refund amount than what it actually was?  my son is understandably upset that the info was misleading. i have filed my taxes online with turbotax the last couple years but this has me leary now. 

[Vanessa A]

Did you follow the steps of Leticia and VolvoGirl above?  

The refund is not affected by the method you choose to file by.  Whether it is e-filed or mailed, the refund would be the same.  Double check the entries at the end in the review and file section to be sure that you did not tell it to apply money to next years taxes.  

If you are printing and mailing, are you using the desktop version?  If so, you can go to forms mode and look at the numbers, then go back and select e-file to see if anything changes.  It should not, unless something is selected to redirect the refund to next year.