Hi, Phil. I am happy to help you with that.
The reason you receive a state refund usually comes down to over withholding of state taxes (although you could have claimed a refundable credit you weren't aware of).
States with income tax have their own versions of the Federal Form W-4. For example, California has a form DE-4 which you can see here . You can generally find your state's W-4 form equivalent at that state's Department of Revenue (DOR). Here is a link to a page that will help you find your state's DOR quickly. That said, it can be sometimes be easier to search in a browser the name of the state and "W-4." While that is likely not going to be the correct state form name, google will generally figure it out for you. For example, I searched "California Form W-4" and got a search link returned to go right to that CA DE-4 form!
My general advice is that click on a link that takes you to the state form rather than a company trying to get your business. For example, in this case I clicked on the link that started like this "https://edd.ca.gov/." Agency names can be confusing, so looking for something that ends in .gov can be helpful. The state forms will come with instructions that help you fill them out in to get your withholding closer to the requirements.
Getting your withholding updated using the state version of the Fed Form W-4 will usually clear things up for you. However, if it doesn't and you have TurboTax Live, an expert can usually help you deep dive into your personal circumstances to answer any remaining questions!
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