Why did TurboTax print out 1040-ES vouchers when I got a refund?

[tiosancho]

TurboTax wasted five pieces of paper and ink printing out vouchers for no apparent reason. I got a refund on both federal and state taxes this year. Why is it printing these?

[VolvoGirl]

If you are receiving a refund or low tax due and TurboTax prepared the vouchers then your tax liability was probably reduced by credits.   It is the tax you owe on your income.  But you might qualify for credits that can reduce your tax due or even give you a refund.

Turbo Tax is very conservative and doesn't want you to owe next year.  They might have printed out if you got a big one time increase in income.   like if you took a IRA or 401K Withdrawal or had a big stock gain.  They are optional to pay.  They don't get sent in with your tax return so the IRS won't be expecting them.  You can ignore them.

[tiosancho]

Thanks for the reply, but none of those things applies in my case.

The user should be prompted as to whether he wants these printed, and given a rationale for why he might.