Why are my home office expenses decreasing my refund? I thought they were supposed to help you

[Marketstar · Accepted solution]

The Earned Income credit is added to the refund meter as you enter your income and personal information.

As you lower your taxable income with deductions, you may lower the amount of your Earned income 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.