tax calculation

[bchan2805]

My 2020 taxable income is $70,730. Turbo Tax shows tax of $6,836. Tax calculated based on IRS tax bracket is $8,092. What is the cause of the difference.

[DoninGA · Accepted solution]

You must have entered some Qualified Dividends or Capital Gains so the tax tables would not be used.

Look at your tax return Form 1040 to the left of Line 16 for what was used to calculate the taxes.

[JohnW152 · Accepted solution]

The most likely answer is that you've entered qualified dividends and/or capital gains on your tax return.

When these types of income are reported, taxes will not be calculated using the tax tables, but using either the Schedule D Tax Worksheet provided in the Instructions for Schedule D, or the Qualified Dividends and Capital Gains Tax Worksheet in the Instructions for Form 1040 and 1040-SR.

These worksheets will result in lower taxes than the tax table or tax schedule.