Why did my federal amount due go down when I entered my stimulus information if the stimulus isn't supposed to affect your refund?

[tracyadamsjr]

Everywhere I look it says it won't affect your refund or increase what you owe.  But when I entered that I got my two stimulus payments the 'Federal Tax Due' shot down and I'm left with a potential credit to be approved by the IRS.  In my mind any credit should be aside from what I would be getting outside of filing any stimulus information.  Can someone explain why if I had not entered stimulus information I would have received a different refund if it's not supposed to affect the refund?

[macuser_22]

Probably because before you told TurboTax that you DID receive a stimulus payment, TurboTax had added the first and second calculated payment to your refund.    When you said you did receive it already, TurboTax removed it from your refund.

You are not being taxed on it - you just do not get the same payment twice.

[DoninGA]

The indicator that shows "Federal Taxes Due" is the amount of federal taxes that you owe.  If you entered stimulus payments received that were less than what you should have received you would receive a tax credit for any payment that you should have received but did not.  This amount reduced the amount of "Federal Taxes Due" and if the credit eliminated the taxes owed the indicator will show "Federal Tax Refund" as the amount that you will receive back from the IRS.

[JC108]

NO because when doing my daughter's taxes the same thing happens.  Last year she got back over $1000. she was on the same track as last year until I entered that stimulus money then her refund dropped down to $200. So if that money does not affect your refund why would she be getting the exact amount of the stimulus check less than she got last year????

[CatinaT1]

Before you enter the amount of the stimulus payments at the screen Did you get a stimulus payment?, you have been given the full Rebate Recovery Credit (the equivalent of the two stimulus payments).   This can be found on line 30 of the 2020 Federal tax return.  At this point, this is an 'incomplete' Rebate Recovery Credit.

The refund monitor on your screen displays a refund amount that includes the stimulus money as part of your 2020 refund.   When you enter the amount of stimulus you received, the refund monitor adjusts to account for this.

See this TurboTax Help.

This TurboTax Help states that the Economic Impact Payments (both the first and second) are not considered income, and therefore are not taxable.

[dhiggins13]

Line 30 on my forms is blank. How do I change that.  Or is that it should be blank. 

Once I got to the Stimulus screen and confirmed we have received the payment it went from getting a refund to owing.  Very confused, I went step by step again and nothing changed. 

How do I fix this

[DoninGA]

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@dhiggins13 wrote:

Line 30 on my forms is blank. How do I change that.  Or is that it should be blank. 

Once I got to the Stimulus screen and confirmed we have received the payment it went from getting a refund to owing.  Very confused, I went step by step again and nothing changed. 

How do I fix this

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There is nothing to fix.  The program gave the maximum credit before you entered the amount of stimulus you actually received.  Once the correct payments were entered you were not eligible for any further credit so Line 30 should be blank.

[dhiggins13]

Thanks for your reply. 

I thought the stimulus payments were not supposed to affect your refund. Mine went from receiving to owing almost the exact as my stimulus payment. Am I doing something wrong

[fanfare]

the way turbotax handles this leaves something to be desired.

You're not doing anything wrong.

If you are eligible for rebate it will be on Line 30.

Always print a copy of your completed tax return for your records, and review it carefully before e-Filing.
You will need it if you are audited by the IRS, or to amend if a TurboTax update changes your return or for any other 
AND, to find your AGI next year.

[Stephen N Rubin]

The amout i was to get from differs from the amount received from the IRS.

[DawnC]

If the amount you were supposed to get is different from what you actually received, you may need to claim the recovery rebate.   If you received more than you qualify for, you don't have to pay it back, but you also won't receive any credit on Line 30.   If you received less than you qualify for based on your 2020 return, you can claim the difference as a credit on Line 30.  This amount will be added to your refund or subtracted from the amount you owe.    To visit that section in TurboTax, see the instructions, here.   @Stephen N Rubin

Neither the stimulus payments nor the recovery rebate are taxable income.