How can I get my Illinois tax return checked against last 2 years? Don’t understand why it says I owe taxes instead of refund when I made less this year?

[gettaxesdone-2]

The tax penalty is excessively larger than previous years. Why is this and is something I entered wrong causing this?

[LenaH]

To download previous years returns, you must first make sure you're using the same TurboTax account (with the same username) as in prior years. Otherwise, the below instructions won't work.

If you're signing in for the first time this year, we may ask you some questions before you get to the Tax Home screen where you can access your prior year returns. 

To get your prior year returns:

1. Sign in to your TurboTax account here if you're haven't already.
2. Select Documents from the left menu. 
3. Use the drop-down menu to choose the tax year you want and then select Download tax PDF.

You can also access your prior year returns like this:

1. Sign in to your TurboTax account here if you're haven't already.
2. Scroll down to the bottom and select Your tax returns & documents.
3. Select the year you want, then select Download/print return (PDF).

If the year you're looking for isn't there, it might be in a different account. Go here to find all of your accounts, one of them should have the return you're looking for.

Generally, there are a lot of factors that could affect your tax amount due from year to year. 

Some of the most common reasons to owe state tax are:

• Less state income tax was taken out of your earnings
• You sold investments
• You had a distribution from a 401k that was not related to Covid-19
• You had a change in filing status
• You got unemployment and not enough state taxes were taken out

[gettaxesdone-2]

This still does not answer my question. The only difference from last year was my income was less. Similar amounts were with held over the year. A tax rep called me and she lost the call and never tried to call back. The number goes to an automated dial that puts me back in a que

[AmyC]

A typo in the state and local section of the w2 would cause a difference. 

If you have the LIVE service, an offline review will allow comparison of last year and this year. See What is a tax expert written response and how do I get one?

To compare the last 2 years and this one would be on you to compare the forms and find the differences. If you can give us what has changed, we are glad to find law changes and help however we can without seeing your return.

Video: Why is my refund lower than last year?(0:59)