Hey y’all I was wondering why my refund went down when I added a second w2, I assumed it would raise my refund. Should I not add the second w2 or did I mess something up?

[leeizaiah5153]

Is it illegal for me to not add the second w-2, I’m new to the whole tax thing so I honestly don’t know.

[xmasbaby0 · Accepted solution]

All of your 2024 income MUST be entered on the same tax return.  Your assumption that adding more income would increase your refund was mistaken.   More income = more tax.

WHY DID MY REFUND GO DOWN WHEN I ADDED ANOTHER W-2?

You started off with your first W-2 and your refund looked high?  Then you added another W-2 and it stopped looking so good? That is normal.  When you added more income, your tax liability increased, so you saw your refund decrease.  The program began by giving you your standard deduction—- which lowered your taxable income.  (if you are filing joint it took $29,200 off your income right off the bat)   So you are not being taxed on as much of the income on that first W-2.  Then you added taxable income--so the refund went down. Your refund (or tax due) is based on the total of your income, not “per W-2.”  

And…adding income may affect other credits you were getting like the earned income credit.

Wait until you have entered ALL of your income and credit/deduction information.  You can't really tell anything until it is all entered.  That “refund monitor” does not mean anything until everything has been entered.

WHY DID MY REFUND DROP WHEN I ADDED ANOTHER W-2?

https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/tax-refund/refund-drop-entered-second-w-...

[MindyB]

Is the second W-2 from a second job or did you get 2 W-2s from the same job?

If you had a second job, it is possible that they did not withhold enough, and that is why your refund went down.

You cannot choose not to include a second W-2 in order to not report taxable in order to get a larger refund.