Why am I getting so little back this year?

[xmasbaby0]

We cannot see your screen, your return or your account.  Have you entered ALL of your 2023 information?  All your income, etc.?  Many tax documents that you need do not arrive until late January or even February, so maybe you do not have it all there yet.

Lots of tax laws changed.  Those changes are resulting in lower refunds for lots of people.

There is no recovery rebate credit (stimulus $) for 2023.  The childcare credit is  less and is not refundable. The child tax credit is different and it is less.    And for some people, earned income credit is different because there is no “lookback” to an earlier year.  Those are some of the reasons your refund may be less.

There are a lot of variables that affect your refund or tax due including how much you earned, how much tax you had withheld, your filing status, the number of dependents you claim, your deductions and credits, etc.  You may have lost Earned Income Credit or the Child Tax Credit— did a child turn 17?  If you received the EIC last year, remember that changes in the amount you earn have a big effect on the amount of EIC you can get. (Sometimes earning more money means less EIC)  Are you 65 or older ?  If so, your standard deduction is higher. Everyone has a higher standard deduction now so it is harder to use itemized deductions.

And…..the child tax credit is very different for 2023    For 2021 you could get $3600 for a child under 6 or $3000 for a child between 6 and 17 even if you had no income/did not work.   That is NOT the way it will work for your 2023 tax return.  The “old” rules are back.   The maximum amount of the child tax credit is now $2000; the refundable “additional child tax credit” amount is $1600.   In order to get that credit, you have to have income from working.  The credit is calculated based on the amount you earned above $2500 multiplied by 15%, up to the full $1600.  If your child is older than 16 at the end of 2023, you do not get the CTC.  But you may still get the non-refundable $500 credit for other dependents instead.

And of course, always check your own data entries, looking for errors such as misplaced decimals or extra zeros.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/tax-refund/refund-go-compared-last-year/...

Print out 2022  and 2023  and compare them side by side to see what is different. 

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/refunds/help/why-did-my-refund-go-down-compared-to-last-year-s/00/...

[SteamTrain]

Compare a printed copy from 2022 to a printed copy from what you've prepared for this year...to see if you've missed something.

Other:

A child who turned 17 during 2023 loses a lot of the child tax credit....lowers the max to $500 for that dependent.

[Vanessa A]

Did anything change from previous years?  Did you make more money?  Did you have a child that turned 17 or graduated from high school or college?  All of these things will cause your refunds to drop.

The more you make the more you owe and if you did not have extra withheld and only had one employer, they probably took out an amount very close to what your total tax liability would be.  If you are single with no children and not in school, there are not a lot of credits available to change your taxes due.  This leaves your taxes kind of cut and dry.  

You have a tax liability on line 16 of your 1040 and you  have withholding from your job on line 25a of your return.  If you paid in more than you are liable for, that is your refund.  If you are liable for more than you paid in, then you would have to write a check to the IRS. So the amount of the refund does not necessarily indicate that you did something wrong.

Did you answer ALL the questions in TurboTax?  If not, it is possible that you missed out on some credits. So you can go back and make sure you didn't miss anything.  You can also double check your W-2 entries. 

If your employer is not withholding enough taxes or you want a bigger refund, you may want to complete a new W4 form for them. 

You can see your 1040 by clicking Tools>>Tax Tools>>View Tax Summary>>Preview My 1040

You can also compare your return from last year to this year to find out exactly what has changed on your return.