Trouble filing taxes

[charles-formica7]

Last year I made $27,772 and had $2,768 federal withheld, $1,721 social security withheld and $402 Medicare tax withheld. My federal return was around $1,000.

This year I made $35,692 and had $2,676 federal, $2,212 social security, and $517 Medicare withheld.

Upon trying to file it says I'm only getting $80 back this year but I haven't changed anything with my w-4.

Can anyone explain why this is happening?

[HelenC12]

We can't see how you filled out your W-4 form but you may have circumstances that affected your 2019 return that you don't have in 2020. The purpose of the W-4 form is get your refund as close to $0 as possible. For 2020, with an $80 refund, the W-4 did it's job. 

Here are some other possible reasons for a year-over-year refund decrease.

• You had more than one job. See Why did my refund drop when I entered a second W-2?
• You filled out the 2019 W-4 later in the year which means part of your federal withholding was based on your 2018 W-4.
• Changes in your income or tax rate
• State and local income tax deduction changes
• Losing certain credits or deductions

You may want to complete a new 2021 W-4 if you want a bigger refund in 2021.