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danac
Returning Member

Why is my blended tax rate so much higher when my income is lower than last year?

 
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4 Replies
JohnB5677
Expert Alumni

Why is my blended tax rate so much higher when my income is lower than last year?

Blended tax rate will fluctuate based on income, but also based on how certain income is taxed.

  • If you had Capital gains, a home business or other special taxes, they would be a factor.
  • Also, tax credits are not deducted from the total tax for the calculation.

The Blended tax rate is calculated under Federal / Federal Review

  • To access it, all questions must be answered in the Federal Review.
  • At the end of the questions. Look at the bottom of the screen
  • It will say Get a detailed view of your numbers

The Blended Tax rate is: 1040 Line 18 divided by Line 15

  • Tax liability, Total Tax Line 18
    • Including SE tax, capital gain and special taxes
  • Taxable income, Line 15
    • Total income minus deductions, but before credits

To compare Blended rates from previous years you will need the earlier tax returns.

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danac
Returning Member

Why is my blended tax rate so much higher when my income is lower than last year?

Thank you. I did the math and dividing line 18 by line 15 gives me a blended tax rate of 10.4%. That is far below the 42.5%. What should I check in the entries I have made to my tax form to fix this?

danac
Returning Member

Why is my blended tax rate so much higher when my income is lower than last year?

Additional info: my taxable income decreased quite a bit this year from last year, while my blended tax rate increased from about 32% to 42%. I had no other changes from last year to this year other than my income decreasing. Why would this happen?

CatinaT1
Expert Alumni

Why is my blended tax rate so much higher when my income is lower than last year?

The Blended tax rate is calculated under Federal / Federal Review.   
 

To access it, all questions must be answered in the Federal Review. 

At the end of the questions. Look at the bottom of the screen 

It will say Get a detailed view of your numbers.

 

The Blended Tax rate is: 

  • Tax liability (Including SE tax, capital gain and special taxes), 
  •  Divided by 
  • Taxable income (Total income minus deductions, but before credits). 
  • (All line numbers are on form 1040)
     

The Effective Tax rate is your:

  • Total income (line 9) 
  • Deductions (Line 12) This is Itemized or Standard 
  • Taxable Income (Line 9 – Line 12) 
  • Blended Tax Rate (Tax Liability [below] / Taxable Income [above]) 
  • Tax Liability (Line 16 + Line 23) 
  • Taxes Paid (line 25d) 
    Credits (Line 21) 
    Total Tax Paid (Line 21 + Line 25d) 
    Refund/Due (Line 34 or Line 37) 

 

Effective tax rate doesn't consider SE tax and any penalties, and blended tax rate does. Blended tax rate is a confusing and unnecessary term to be using in TT, and gets everybody all upset. 

 

You can compute it yourself with a calculator.

 

Effective tax rate is something Turbo Tax uses to help you see where you stand; to see which W-2 may be deficient in withholding the correct amount of Federal tax, etc. 

 

It should be the tax divided by the total income, not the AGI. It is a number without any real value other than just to let you know when you earn $1, about x% is taxed.

 

For more effective information see: 

 

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