Federal Taxes -

[shovel1982]

Hello

I do my son's taxes.  He is single and has no dependents.  In 2019 he earned $26,846.00 and paid in $2491.00 in Federal Taxes and received a refund of $965.00.

2020 He earned $22,917.15 paid in 1183.53, plus 2886.00 in unemployment and paid $288.60 in Federal taxes for that.   But is only getting $37.00 back.  Am I doing something wrong??  He has no real deductions except the standard deduction.  

Did I do something wrong?   I have triple checked my numbers and entered everything correctly.  

Thank you in advance!  

Terry Priddy 

[AlanT222 · Accepted solution]

No, you did not do anything wrong.  

In 2019, your son withheld at a rate of 9%.  For 2020, he withheld at a rate of 5%.  This means he paid less in 2020 than he did in 2019.  This would account for the difference in his refund.  

[SweetieJean]

Is he over age 25?  If so, he probably received a higher EIC in 2019.   His total income was lower in 2020, and Unemployment Comp does not qualify for EIC.   Even if not, his 2020 total was about $1,000 less than 2019; but is taxes withheld were also $1,000 less.

Look at his 2019 and 2020 tax returns side by side.  Something may stand out.