Had a balance of 2300,turbotax said my refund would cover that, and get me an additional 1261.irs says refund was only 1261,still owe $1063. who is incorrect? TT or IRS?

[DoninGA]

You misunderstood something or saw the Total Refund amount on the TurboTax Tax Home website where is showed a math calculation for your total refund (Refund minus Taxes Owe).

A tax refund cannot be used to pay taxes owed.

Based on your post you received the IRS Federal tax refund of $1,261 and you still have to pay the state taxes owed of $1,063.

[chrispiper86]

If that's true, then turbotax needs to greatly update their U.I. as I went back and checked it multiple times as I was in disbelief. Also,if what you said is true,then why don't I have my 1261 refund and why did the IRS automatically apply it to my balance? That contradicts what you said of "you cannot pay a balance with a refund" like,that's literally what the IRS did.

Even if I misunderstood it, I would think turbotax would have a way to convey that I would not be getting the refund and the IRS would be keeping it and automatically applying it my balance. There's zero indication of that on turbotax's end and all their UI says I should expect the 1261 in my account any day now. They showed that I had a balance too so it's not like the software was unaware that I owed money from a previous year. Overall, very confusing. 

[DoninGA]

@chrispiper86 The IRS can seize a tax refund for -

• Past-due child support;
• Federal agency nontax debts;
• State income tax obligations; or
• Certain unemployment compensation debts owed to a state (generally, these are debts for (1) compensation paid due to fraud, or (2) contributions owing to a state fund that weren't paid).

This does NOT include current tax year taxes owed to the state since the IRS has no way to know the current year state taxes owed.

Go to this IRS website for refund offsets - https://www.irs.gov/refunds/reduced-refund

[chrispiper86]

All of that information is irrelevant....

2024,I got a large bonus at work. made it tax exempt. File taxes in 2025.whoops, didn't pay enough income tax for the year because of the exempt bonus and I owe the IRS 2500 bucks. I set up an automatic payment plan with them and was making payments. No big deal. 

I just filed taxes this year for 2025. What I'm saying is turbotax UI said I still have a balance of 2300. BUT it didn't say that my refund was ONLY 1261 and that the IRS was going to keep it,to offset that 2300 balance. It didn't say you'll get the refund but SHOULD pay it, you won't get a refund,your refund was 1261 automatically applied and your new balance is 1063 etc etc etc.

I understand why I owe everything now, I was confused because TurboTax didn't even hint that the IRS would keep my 1261 and automatically apply it to my previous income tax balance.  One year I even OWED 130 bucks for income tax and TurboTax CLEARLY stated that. I appreciate your replies thus far, but the issue is turbotax UI didn't communicate that my refund won't be available to me, and the IRS was going to keep it and automatically apply it to the previous balance. 

[VolvoGirl]

Something is still not right and confusing.  Turbo Tax  has no way of knowing if you still owe the IRS for prior years or something else.  We don't know where you saw the 2300.  That was probably a state tax due.  At the end Turbo Tax does show you the NET combined amount of federal and state returns.  But that is only for your own info.  But federal and state are completely separate.   They can't offset each other.  You will still owe the full amount to state.  

[chrispiper86]

I'm in Washington,no state tax.