Why I only have $300 refund this year even I only have $31000 income this year?

[xmasbaby0]

We cannot see your screen, your return or your account.  Have you entered ALL of your 2021 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.

No one in this user forum can see your tax return or your screen.  There were major tax law changes that began with the 2018 tax year that seem to continue to surprise some people.  Personal exemptions of over $4000 per person were removed beginning with 2018 returns.

 Was something different for 2021?  Did you have less income due to the pandemic?  Did you receive unemployment compensation?  If so, did you have tax withheld from it?

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

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1901008-why-did-my-refund-go-down-compared-to-last-year-s

Print out 2020  and 2021 and compare them side by side to see what is different. 

https://www.postbulletin.com/news/business/tax-preparers-warn-your-refund-may-be-smaller-than-usual/...

[JamesG1]

We would have to compare your tax return from 2020 to 2021 to explain the difference.

Some thoughts would be:

• Have you input all of your tax documents?
• You received advance child care payments July through December of 2021 rather than on the 2021 Federal tax return.
• Change of jobs affect tax withholding computations causing you to withhold at a lower rate than last year.
• Income increase or decrease affects a tax benefit or computes your tax from a higher tax bracket.
• A change in number of dependents or a dependent change from a qualifying child to a qualifying relative.
• Losing or not qualifying for a tax credit.
• Self-employment income generates a self-employment tax as well as income taxes.

 You may also want to review this.

You can review the tax returns in TurboTax Online by following these directions. 

• Down the left side of the screen, click on Tax Tools.
• Click on Tools.
• Under Other helpful links, click on View Tax Summary.
• Down the left side of the screen, click on State Tax Summary to see the actual tax return that you prepared.
• Down the left side of the screen, click on Preview My 1040 to see the actual tax return that you prepared.
• Down the left side of the screen, click Back to return.