My federal and state refund was extremely low compared to my past few years of refunds. Did I do something wrong?

[MayaD]

Most probably your income increased in 2024 but you didn't adjust your W-4 and your state withholding forms. 

Other reasons why your refund could be less than what you expected:

• You did not qualified for the full amount of the Child Tax Credit. 
• You changed your Filing Status.
• You didn't qualify for the Earned Income credit. 
• Received Unemployment income or self employment income and didn't have any taxes withheld from that income. 

Make sure all taxes withheld from your W-2 and 1099 forms are entered correctly. I also recommend that you do a line by line comparison with last year's return to see wat have changed. 

[VolvoGirl]

Nothing is the same as last year. There are many differences. If you have kids they are a year older. That can make big changes. Also the tax laws and brackets might have changed. The withholding tables change each year. Each year is separate.

You have to compare this year with last year’s return LINE BY LINE and see what changed. Maybe you’ll spot something you left out or entered wrong. Common things are leaving the decimal point out or typing a comma for a decimal point, or typing an extra digit. Getting the wrong taxable amount on a 1099R entry or entering the 1099R wrong and getting hit with a penalty. Missing the qualified dividends in 1099-DIV box 2a. I could go on and on.

Why did your refund go down this year?
https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/tax-refund/refund-go-compared-last-year/...