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New Member
posted Jan 28, 2025 10:05:34 AM

How is it possible that my federal return is only $100 this year when normally it’s around 1500??

I normally receive 1500 or more every single year this makes absolutely no sense. There’s nothing different.

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2 Replies
Expert Alumni
Jan 28, 2025 10:07:45 AM

Your tax refund is not at all proportional to your income. It depends on your income, your deductions and other tax credits, your tax liability and the amount of tax withheld.

 

Assuming that your form W-4 was filled out correctly, the tax withholding tables are designed so that you pay enough tax as you earn so that your refund or your tax due is as close to 0 as possible. In fact, if you have a large refund at tax time, this means that too much has been withheld from your paychecks during the year.

 

Additionally, many events may reduce your refund. Please read this TurboTax Help article.

 

You can also review your entries in TurboTax to make sure that they are correct.

Level 15
Jan 28, 2025 10:09:04 AM

We cannot see your screen, your return or your account.  Have you entered ALL of your 2024 information?  All your income, etc.?  Many tax documents that you need do not arrive until late January or even February, so maybe you do not have it all there yet.

 

 

There are a lot of variables that affect your refund or tax due including how much you earned, how much tax you had withheld, your filing status, the number of dependents you claim, your deductions and credits, etc.  You may have lost Earned Income Credit or the Child Tax Credit— did a child turn 17?  If you received the EIC last year, remember that changes in the amount you earn have a big effect on the amount of EIC you can get. (Sometimes earning more money means less EIC)  Are you 65 or older ?  If so, your standard deduction is higher. Everyone has a higher standard deduction now so it is harder to use itemized deductions.

 

 

And of course, always check your own data entries, looking for errors such as misplaced decimals or extra zeros.

 

https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/tax-refund/refund-go-compared-last-year/L97JmhUbi_US_en_US?uid=ld9ijm41

 

Print out 2023  and 2024  and compare them side by side to see what is different. 

 

 

https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/tax-payments/video-why-would-i-owe-federal-taxes/L3VXudPiN