I had 2 jobs in 2016 and for each of them I am supposed to get back around $1100 for a total of around $2200 but with both entered it is saying $549 total.

[roaune]

Why would this happen? Had insurance all year and no self-employment. And I stay in the same tax bracket whether I enter one or both.

[xmasbaby0 · Accepted solution]

When you added more income, your tax liability increased, so you saw your refund decrease.  The program begins by giving you your personal exemption of $4050 plus your standard deduction—both of which lowered your taxable income. So you are not being taxed on as much of the income on that first W-2.  Then you added taxable income--so the refund went down. Your refund (or tax due) is based on the total of your income, not “per W-2.”  Wait until you have entered ALL of your income and deduction information.  You can't really tell anything until it is all entered.  That “refund monitor” does not mean anything until everything has been entered.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/2273878-why-did-my-refund-drop-when-i-entered-another-w-2

[roaune]

I did wait until everything had been entered. When it came down to finally submit EVERYTHING, it still told me my final refund was 500-something. Do i just submit it anyway and trust that the refund total is higher than that? I find it hard to believe that's all my tax return is going to be. Every year since I was 18, my tax returns have been at least twice that, with the annual income being right around the same

[xmasbaby0]

No one on Answer Xchange can see your return.  There are are 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. Or do you have a healthcare penalty?  The best way to find the difference is to print and compare 2015 and 2016 side by side
And of course, always check your own data entries, looking for errors such as misplaced decimals or extra zeros.