I am on the "tell us about your refund" screen. specifically, "Total of all your payments and withholdings", do I get the info from my 2015 w-2's?

[EdwardK]

Partially.

If you are referring to the screen related to refunds received for state/local tax returns, Total of all your payments and withholding is the total amount you paid to the state or locality you selected on the screen for the year you selected under Tax Year of Refund (usually 2016). Thus, if you received the refund and/or related Form 1099-G in 2017 but the amount was for "Tax Year of Refund" 2016, then you would enter "Total of all your payments and withholding" for tax year 2016.

The amount would not include federal, social security, and medicare taxes withholdings. You should be able to find this information on your state or local tax return(s) for the "Tax Year of Refund". Many states or localities even have a similarly labeled line that is a total, such as "Total payments/credits" or "Total payments and credits." Depending on the state or locality, "Total of all your payments and withholding" may include the following:

• Amounts withheld on your W-2, W-2G, and 1099
• Estimated tax payments for 2016. Add any paid in 2017 for 2016 (it's common for the 4th quarterly payment to be made in January)
• Overpayment from 2015 applied toward your 2016 return
• Payment made with an extension of time to file
• Payment made when you filed your return
• Refundable credits

Likewise, if you received the refund and/or related Form 1099-G in 2017 but the amount was for "Tax Year of Refund" 2015, then you would enter "Total of all your payments and withholding" for tax year 2015.

[patrick_champion1]

I had to hunt far and wide because some places were talking about farm subsidies and grants and got me very confused.  TurboTax needs to include something like your answer (maybe even an example with a synthetic tax return and line numbers to give a concrete like examle) to the software.  Last year, I had a Tax person do my taxes and so TurboTax didn't have all the data from last year's taxes stored to auto-populate this field.  Instead they referenced a line title that does not show on my state's tax return.  Thank you for this clear (including the years, etc) example. I was beginning to despair and worried I would put in a totally wrong number and cause an audit accidentally.

[Bob Reardon]

You said that "Total of all your payments and withholding" includes "Payment made when you filed your return." However...TurboTax 2022's instructions pop-up says "Do not include balance due payments made with (or after) filing a return." And the amount that TT prefills (from the previous year's return) indeed excludes the balance due. 

Clearly, excluding the balance due is not the "Total of all your payments and withholding". What gives? Is TT wrong?

[AliciaP1]

Your statement is correct.  You do not include the payment made with the filing of your return.  You have responded to an old thread, and the instructions/information in TurboTax have changed to reflect current rules and processes.

@Bob Reardon