Hi. Why does my refund reduce when I enter info about my stimulus payments?

[pasoutpas]

Refund differs by about $2,000 when I include stimulus payments. I thought stims were not considered taxable income?

[xmasbaby0]

Your stimulus is not taxable and is not being taxed.

You might have become confused by the flow of information in the software.   That "refund monitor" on your screen displays a "refund" amount that includes the stimulus money. as part of your 2020 refund.  The software starts off by giving you the stimulus money.   But later when you enter the amount of stimulus you really received already, it removes the stimulus already given to you.   And it looks to you like you "lost" your refund,   But ---you do not get the same stimulus money twice--that is why it came out.

Look on line 30 of your Form 1040 for your recovery rebate amount.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1901539-how-do-i-preview-my-turbotax-online-return-before-filing

Click on Tax Tools on the left side of the screen. Click on Tools. Click on View Tax Summary. Click on Preview my 1040 on the left side of the screen.

[pasoutpas]

Hi. Thank you for responding. The reason it looks like In”lost” money, is because it’s about half what I usually get, for years now. So, something is is different. So I don’t quite understand your explanation. 

[DMarkM1]

Using the instructions Xmasbaby0 provided earlier you can preview your 2020 form 1040 and compare that to your copy of your 2019 return. 

Look at the taxable income lines and the tax lines as well as any credits.  You should be able to find the difference between the years.  Once you have discovered where the difference is you can return to that area of your return if there is something amiss. 

Usually the difference is either a case of you had less tax withheld from your pay or you didn't qualify for the same credits in 2020.