Overpayment on Estimated Taxes 2021

[msmernoff]

Both my husband and I work freelance, and report estimated taxes for our income quarterly. My husband did some work for UCLA last year, and I didn't realize that they were taking taxes out.  So in the 3rd quarter of 2021, we overpayed on estimated taxes by approximately $500 (since I included the UCLA income in factoring in what we owed for estimated taxes, though taxes were already taken out of his paycheck - so we paid taxes on that income twice). We're filing with turbotax, and I entered the estimated taxes that we paid in 2021, but I don't see a place to input/reconcile the overpayment (as I'm hoping we'd get a credit for paying too much). I don't want to apply an overpayment to future taxes owed, I'd just like it added to our refund. I have done some searches, but can't seem to find an answer. Grateful for any advise and input - thanks in advance!

[AliciaP1 · Accepted solution]

You just need to enter the full amounts of your estimated payments.  TurboTax will do the math for you when applying the payments to the actual tax you owe for the year.  If your total estimated payments exceed the amount of tax owed, you will get a refund.

[SteamTrain]

As long as you put in the $$ you actually paid for that qtr, and the other quarters, it just adds into the total taxes paid, and you got credit for it. 

Whether there is an actual refund really depends on ALL your income, deductions & Credits for the year, all taken together.  i.e. if you were effectively short some quarter, or if your extra income pushed you into a higher tax bracket, then some or all of that payment (or any of the payments) is just used to pay off that extra tax.

You do need to make sure you enter the withholding when you enter whatever tax form UCLA sends to you....so that you get credit for that.

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After you've entered everything, there is a way to see whether you got proper credits for those payments, but you need to print a copy (OK...actually save to PDF File) of your tax file from the Print Center...but choose the option to show all the worksheets.  In that PDF will be a Federal "Tax Payments Worksheet" that breaks down all of your Quarterly estimated payments (Federal and state), and withholding $$ delineated by form type.  IF all your Qtr payments and withholding add up there, then you got proper credit for all of them.

[msmernoff]

Thanks Alicia! I wondered if this might be the case - thank you for clarifying and taking the time to reply! 

[msmernoff]

Thanks SteamTrain! That all makes sense. Thanks so much for the clear feedback and sharing your knowledge!