The TurboTax calculation of my tax does not match my calculation based on the IRS tax table.

[cliff-landesman]

Why would my calculation based on my taxable income be much higher than the tax calculated by TurboTax?

[ThomasM125 · Accepted solution]

Most likely some of your income is taxed at more favorable rates than what is on the tax table. For instance, capital gains and qualified dividends are often taxed at a much lower rate than what is reflected in the tax tables. You will have to look at the tax worksheets, such as the Schedule D Tax Worksheet after you have paid for your TurboTax product to see how your income tax was calculated.

[VolvoGirl · Accepted solution]

It depends on what kind of income you have.  There are like 7 different ways to figure the tax.

See the IRS worksheet on 1040 page 36 for how the tax is figured.  Turbo Tax uses the same worksheet.

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040gi.pdf

Even though it shows up as income on the first page,if you have capital gains or qualified dividends the tax on line 16 is not taken from the tax table but is calculated separately from schedule D.  The tax will be calculated on the Qualified Dividends and Capital Gain Tax Worksheet.  It does not get filed with your return.    In the online version you need to save your return as a pdf file and include all worksheets to see it.