If you owe State this year but never have in the past, I would highly recommend you compare this year's State Tax Return to last year's State Tax Return line by line to pinpoint any differences. Doing this will help you see exactly why this year is different than last year. Also, comparing your W2's from this year and last year might highlight a change that could have affected your Refund. Finally, double check your input to make sure everything has been entered correctly in TurboTax.
There are many reasons that you could end up owing State this year when you didn't in past years. Some of the most common reasons include:
- Your State Withholding as a Percentage of Wages decreased
- Your Income Increased or Decreased
- You deferred less income into your Employer-Sponsored Retirement Plan or Flexible Savings Plan
- You qualified for a Tax Credit or Deduction in previous years that you didn't qualify for this year
- You changed your Filing Status
- You deleted a Dependent or a Dependent turned 17 during the year
- If you Itemize, your Itemized Deductions were higher last year
