The Earned Income credit is added to the refund meter as you
enter your income and personal
As you lower your taxable
income with deductions, you may lower the amount of your Earned Income Credit
(and possibly the Child Tax Credit), thus lowering the dollar amount you see on
the refund meter.
The more information you enter, the more
accurate the refund meter will be, and will not be totally accurate (and thus truly meaningful) until you have
entered all of your information including all income and expense/deductions.
In other words, do not concern yourself with the refund meter until you have completed
your return.