Will I get a federal tax return if I earned $23,000 as a student when I worked as a dependent, full-time student? Not sure why I have to pay over $2,000 in federal tax.

Unfortunately, being a Student doesn’t automatically exempt you from paying income taxes.  Whether or not you have to pay income taxes depends on how much income you earn during the year.  

If you are being claimed as a Dependent, any income you have over $6,350 is taxable.  If you are not claimed as a Dependent, any income over $10,400 is taxable.

A federal tax liability of around $2,000 sounds about right for $23,000 in income if you are being claimed as a Dependent.  If you did not have enough federal taxes withheld to cover your tax liability you will end up owing the difference.

Please comment below if I can help you further.