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There can be any number of reasons but it generally happens because income was greater, withholding was less, or credits were smaller than other years. Filling out a tax return is a process of reconciliation for a particular year. It is almost impossible to have the same return from one year to the next. Filing status may change, you may lose a dependent, or you the withholding tables from the IRS may have been updated.
The surest way to see is to compare your last year return with the current year, line by line. Here are some things to compare:
You may in the process discover that you made a mistake and can now correct it or just see how things change from one year to the next.
A small increase in your 2017 income may have reduced – even eliminated – some deductions and credits you got on your 2016 return, not to mention putting you in a higher tax bracket.
Strangely enough, an income decrease can sometimes reduce your refund. One example is losing the Earned Income Credit (EIC) because you didn't have any earned income this year, which you need to qualify for the EIC.
Without examining your return, it's impossible to say exactly what caused your refund to decrease. However, there's a high probability that at least one reason is listed below.
If your refund is wildly off, you may want to check for a typo. An extra digit here, a missing number there, or something as insignificant as a misplaced decimal point can affect your refund.
Here are some other that may or may not apply to your situation:
Changes in your income or tax rate
Loss of credits or deductions
You can read more here: https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1901008
You can view your entire return or just your 1040 form before you e-file:
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