I worked two jobs this year, and when I enter my second jobs W2 my refund amount lowers?

[hailey-nacole-pa]

Does anyone know why this happens? For example, my 1st job said I would recieve 500 when I put in my second it comes down to 250?

[xmasbaby0 · Accepted solution]

 That is normal.  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.

[hailey-nacole-pa]

Thanks so much!

[retiree]

Refund Monitor amount went down after entering second w-2


Not unusual.  There are many reasons that could result in such a situation; and since this is a public forum you do not want to post your personal information.  The primary reason is very simply that you likely HAVE NOT completed entering ALL of your information --the guesstimate is only as good as the information you enter accurately and correctly.

The ideal situation is to have EXACTLY the correct amount withheld ($0 owed and $0 refund).  Unfortunately that is a very difficult amount to predict, and is somewhat of a moving target due to salary increased/decreases and tax law changes. 

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