When filing 2 W2s, I get less money back.

[venom1588]

So I work for a gym. It is a franchised gym that has multiple locations. One in San Bernardino, One in Oxnard. Even though they are from the same owner, they are considered different companies.

I received two different W2s, one from each gym where I worked throughout the year. On the San Bernardino Gym I made $19,922.16; withheld 2221.39. In the Oxnard one I made $8,816.50; withheld 276.90.

When I enter the W2 from SB, I get about 1200 back by itself. And when I enter the Oxnard one by itself I get about 700 back. But when I enter both W2s I get only about 205 back. What's going on?

[xmasbaby0]

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.

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

Every W-2 that you received must be reported on your tax return, even if they are for small amounts.  Remember that each one of those W-2’s has your Social Security number on it, and that income was reported to the IRS by the employer.  You do not want to get in trouble with the IRS for under-reporting your income.

ALL of your W-2’s must be entered on the SAME tax return.  After you enter the first one, you click Add Another W-2.