Online TurbotTax 2021 is showing wrong tax information, more owed than actual

[MiloBuilder]

Short TLDR: TurboTax is showing a significantly larger amount in my owed taxes.

So I started my taxes in TurboTax like I always do, but was really concerned after only imputting my W2 and TT showed I owed money. Ok, I can accept that, but out of curiousity, I went and pulled 1040 and manually figured out my AGI, Taxes and Refund using solely my W2. This is a dramatic difference. Manual figures of just W2 show a refund of roughly 1k, and turbo tax with only the same information shows I owe money.

I think there's bug in your system or you're using the incorrect tax tables. anyone else started thier taxes and think something is off?

[xmasbaby0]

We cannot see your screen or your tax return, nor can we attest to your skills at calculating your tax return by hand instead of using the software.   What we do know is that if you enter all of your data into the software correctly and completely, you should get accurate results.   Print out the return you prepared with the software and put it side by side with your hand calculated one and see what is different.

[MiloBuilder]

Hi XmasBaby,

This is exactly my point. When I pull the tax tables and forms from IRS.gov, i get a dramatically different result from what I put in TurboTax with exactly the same information. We are talking over a $1k difference where TT shows I owe money, but the IRS forms done manually show a refund.

This is why I theorize there is a bug in the system or their tax tables are off. I work in software development, I imagine it's something as simple as their system is pulling the wrong data table or using a wrong # in the calculation(s).

[xmasbaby0]

Again----when you put the returns side by side----where are the differences?

[xmasbaby0]

@MiloBuilder 

Have you considered switching to the CD/download?   That way you could go into Forms mode and see all of the forms---you would probably spot the difference more easily that way.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/choosing-a-product/help/how-do-i-switch-from-turbotax-online-to-th...

Or.....depending on your income maybe you could use one of the free programs on the IRS site.   Try entering your data into one of those programs and see how it turns out.

All of the "self-prepared" software has to comply with the tax laws and provide the same forms, so if you enter the same data into any of them you should get the same result.

https://apps.irs.gov/app/freeFile/

[MiloBuilder]

Are you a bot? I've literally described this twice.

The difference is that TT says I owe roughly 16k in Taxes, Manual calculation (and honestly, I've checked other tax softwares) all show I owe 15k in taxes. When done manually and used HR Block, Tax Act, etc. all show roughly 15k, but TT somehow seems to think I owe more with exactly the same information.

[VolvoGirl]

No one else has posted or complainted about that yet.  Check your entries for a misplaced decimal point or typos.  Or you may have answered a question wrong under My Info or income.

You need to print it out and compare it to your manual return.  Before filing,  You can preview the 1040 or print the whole return

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/accessing/help/how-do-i-preview-my-turbotax-online-return-before-f...

You only entered a W2?  You could set up another account to do a test return and see if you get the same results.  Or use the Desktop program.  It has more features than the Online version.

[MiloBuilder]

thank you for your reply, but this is exactly why i am posting. Literally the exact same info, but somehow TT has a wildly different calculation.

Maybe there is an Admin who can report this bug to their developers. 

[VolvoGirl]

Sorry you haven't posted enough details to know if it's a bug.  Exactly what lines are different?   Even entering your birthdate wrong can make a difference.

Complain to support.

Contact Customer Service
5am-5pm Pacific Time
Monday-Friday
https://support.turbotax.intuit.com/contact/

What is the Turbo Tax phone number
https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/using-turbotax/help/what-is-the-turbotax-phone-number/00/25632

[MiloBuilder]

Volvo girl, I would argue that I've provided plenty of data that demonstrates this is a bug:

-- exactly the same data, when put in TT and other software or manually calculated has continually shown TT to be producing a wildly different result.

How do you imagine this is nothing other than a bug when it is LITERALLY the SAME data? 

Like I stated before, I work in software development, I am intimately aware of issues like this and if 1 software or algorithm is producing different results, you investigate why and correct the issue.

[xmasbaby0]

First it was different results from calculating manually vs using TT, then it goes to different results using other software-----but nowhere can we get you to tell us what line(s) are different.   You are convinced it is a bug.    We are not convinced without some specific details.    Talk to customer support.  If there is a bug we all want it to be corrected.

[fanfare]

in many cases, the Tax Tables do not apply.

In those cases, if you look up your tax in the Tax Tables it will be different and  wrong.

[mekellar]

02.22.2022: I think TT for 2021 must have a problem with the tax tables.  I got my completed TT rejected from IRS for another reason.  I know have to send it in and before I do that I decided to look at how TT came up with what I owed since I figured I would owe more than they computed.  I used the current 2021 tax table from irs.gov.  I found that I should be paying $2,001 more than TT figured.  I have been trying to talk to TT about this, but after numerous attempts, have given up. 

[VolvoGirl]

No Turbo Tax is right.  Otherwise a lot of people would be posting.  Print our your return with all the worksheets.

It depends on what kind of income you have.  There are like 7 different ways to figure the tax.

If you have capital gains or qualified dividends the tax is not taken from the tax table but is calculated separately from schedule D.  The tax will be calculated on the Qualified Dividends and Capital Gain Tax Worksheet.  It does not get filed with your return.

In the online version you need to save your return as a pdf file and include all worksheets to see it.

For the Desktop version you can switch to Forms Mode and open the worksheet to see it.  Click Forms in the upper right (upper left for Mac) and look through the list and open the Qualified Dividends and Capital Gain Tax Worksheet.

You can probably tell because the tax on 1040 will be less than the Tax Table

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/forms/help/form-1040-line-11-amount-is-less-than-standard-irs-tax-...

[DoninGA]

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@mekellar wrote:

02.22.2022: I think TT for 2021 must have a problem with the tax tables.  I got my completed TT rejected from IRS for another reason.  I know have to send it in and before I do that I decided to look at how TT came up with what I owed since I figured I would owe more than they computed.  I used the current 2021 tax table from irs.gov.  I found that I should be paying $2,001 more than TT figured.  I have been trying to talk to TT about this, but after numerous attempts, have given up. 

---

Not all income is taxed using the IRS tax tables.

Did you have any Qualified Dividends or Capital Gains entered on your tax return?

If so then the Qualified Dividends and Capital Gains Tax Worksheet was used to calculate the taxes on the taxable income.

IRS Form 1040 Instructions Qualified Dividends and Capital Gains Tax Worksheet page 36 - https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040gi.pdf#page=36