Video: Reasons Why My Tax Refund Is Not What I Expected
Is your tax refund less than you were hoping? TurboTax Tax Expert and CPA Lisa Green-Lewis is here to explain some reasons why you're seeing a lower refund.
Video Transcript:
[00:00:00.00] [MUSIC PLAYING]
[00:00:04.90] TRACY BYRNES: So lots of talk this year about taxpayers getting lower refunds. What? Lisa Greene-Lewis is here, TurboTax expert and CPA, to explain to us. I mean, refunds are almost like becoming an expected thing that you get in the mail. And now we're saying, maybe not so much this year. What's going on?
[00:00:23.84] LISA GREENE-LEWIS: Well, one thing to pay attention to is year over year, there are reasons why people might see a lower refund. And that's if you owed a state tax debt, the Treasury may do an offset of your federal taxes. What people are seeing this year is under the American Rescue Plan, a lot of provisions were expanded considerably, like for instance, the Child and Dependent Care Credit. That increased up to $8,000 if you had two or more kids. And it's going back to pre-American Rescue Plan down to $2,100.
[00:01:00.67] Same with Child Tax Credit. That increased up to $3,600, and it's going back down to $2,000. So if you were eligible for those provisions, you could see differences. In addition, the ability to claim the recovery rebate credit for the last stimulus payment. That has gone away.
[00:01:20.72] So all of those, if you are eligible, can impact what you're seeing on your tax return. But one thing to keep in mind those were just some provisions to provide relief. The laws that were expanded, they didn't really change. But they're going back to what they were before.
[00:01:39.93] TRACY BYRNES: Right. And there's also the normal discourse of life, right? You may have gained a job, lost a job. You may have added a child. There's a lot of life changes that could have happened as well that increase or decrease your refund along the way.
[00:01:51.96] Sometimes it feels like when we look back on 2022, it was a lifetime ago, and you almost forget about what happened, which is all the more why it's important to make sure you get every deduction and every credit. And Lisa and I will continue to talk about that through this whole series.
[00:02:04.71] LISA GREENE-LEWIS: You could come to TurboTax and have your taxes fully prepared by a TurboTax live full-service tax expert, who can do your taxes in one meeting while they're preparing your taxes. And then TurboTax has a new tax return lifetime guarantee. And it guarantees your return as far as calculations and tax refund and audit support for up to seven years. And that's the life of the tax return.
[00:02:34.20] TRACY BYRNES: But don't be alarmed if your refund is different this year. Lisa Greene-Lewis, TurboTax expert and CPA, thank you for that clarification.
[00:02:42.67] LISA GREENE-LEWIS: Thank you for having me.
[00:02:44.02] [MUSIC PLAYING]
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