Federal Refund Differences between 2018 and 2019

[SueC318]

I am retired and my only income is from SSA and my pension.  My 2019 taxes are the same as my 2018 taxes were with the exception of my medical expenses.  For 2019 they are triple what they were in 2018 as I moved from an assisted living facility into a nursing home.  I am still self pay.  I got the same state refund this year (2019) as I did last year (2018) but my federal refund came back at $0 for 2019 vs right around $1000 for 2018.  Any idea as to why?  I double checked my entries and everything is consistent between the two years.

[JotikaT2]

It depends.

If your income is the same as 2018, you may also want to review your federal income tax withholding to determine if there were any changes there.

In regards to your medical expenses, those are only deductible if you are able to itemize your deductions. The deduction is limited to qualified medical expenses which exceed 7.5% of your Adjusted Gross Income. 

If the standard deduction is still higher than the itemized deduction, your change in medical expenses may not have any effect on your tax return between years.