Wrong Tax Amount

Forum|Forum|2 years ago
November 29, 2023
1 reply
1 view

I am looking back at my 2021 tax return. On my Form 1040, Line 15 shows $78,751. And Line 16 shows $20,702. This means that I'm paying 26% tax. Isn't it high?

I just checked with this IRS link. It shows that my tax should have been $12,948 (married filing separately). Why is there such a huge difference? Which one is correct?

dmertz

Level 15

Numerous things can be included on Form 1040 line 16 besides just the ordinary income tax on the amount on line 15. Check the instructions for line 16 to see if your tax liability includes any of these other items: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/i1040gi--2021.pdf

Also make sure that you have done no overrides in TurboTax.

ZachProAuthor

Level 2

I just read Page 32 of the link you sent me. None of the other taxes seem to apply to me. I don't even know what most of them are.

>>> You wrote: Also make sure that you have done no overrides in TurboTax.

What do you mean? What should I check? Give me some pointers. Thanks.

NCperson

Level 15

@ZachPro some ideas on where to look:

did you use Turbo Tax to complete your 2021 tax return?

If you used Turbo tax do you remember right clicking and overriding any of the fields? that is a "no-no" as it invalidates the turbo tax guarentee; also frequently you can't efile the tax return

if Line 15 is $78,751, then line 16 should be $13,079. it is right from the table on page 74.

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/i1040gi--2021.pdf

are you confident you are posting the correct line numbers? were you self-employed and that tax number is really Line 24, which would include the Self Employment tax?

the link you posted above is the 2022 tax instructions yet you state that you were reviewing your 2021 tax return. Which year are we really dealing with? (and that is why you state the table says $12,948 and I say $13,079 - because there are two different years being discussed.