What is my Blended Tax Rate?

[azuresegugio]

Hi I don't really know what I'm doing here. I was filling my taxes and I saw I had a 10% Blended Tax rate, and I'm just confused what it is, and why it's so high? I work part time and earned a little over 17,000 in wages last year. I do not own any stocks or investments or anything. I'm just confused why I didn't pay anything last year but this I have this really big tax this year.

[AmyC]

Your income puts you in the 10% tax bracket according to the bracket calculator. Income of $17,000 would be about $400 tax liability. If you had no tax withheld during the year, you would owe it all. Please take a look at your 1040 tax form.

• Line 9 total income
• Line 15 taxable income
• Line 16 tax
• Line 25 tax withheld at work

You probably earned less last year. Anyone below the $12,950 mark would not have a tax liability. As you can see the deduction on line 12. The first tax bracket, the lowest, is 10%.

To see your forms:

• In desktop, switch to Forms Mode. 
• For online, see How do I preview my TurboTax Online return before filing?

[azuresegugio]

Oh, ok. I guess I'm just confused, nobody else I know with a similar bracket is getting so little back in their return, I just don't get the math, but I guess it's right 

[DawnC]

How much you get back is dependent upon how much you pay in.   If you and your neighborhood both made 20K, you both owe the same amount.   But if they had more taxes withheld, see Box 2 of your W-2, then they are going to get a larger refund.