estimated taxes

[bfarm]

Upon completing our taxes, we are due a refund of a little over $500.  When we went to print out our tax return,  there were vouchers saying we need to pay quarterly estimated taxes in the amount of $603 for this next year.  We aren't sure why, since we got a refund this year, and we don't seem to meet the criteria for needing to pay them.  We have changed our W-4 so that more tax will be withheld.  Do we still need to pay the quarterly estimated taxes and then just get them back on next year's refund?

[El Steve]

In my experience, the program generates an estimate of your future tax situation based on the current year filing. It is always up to you to decide how much, if any, estimated tax to pay during the year.  If you end up with a large payment at the end of the year, you could potentially have a penalty, however, from the information you provided in your question, I doubt you would face that situation unless your income changes a lot during the coming year.   

[SteamTrain]

"we"? 

 The Advanced Child Tax Credit doesn't exist for next year (yet), so if you have kids, perhaps this year's refund isn't projected to exist next year due to the absence of those credits for 2022