How are these tax specialists getting people $10-30k tax refunds when I always owe?

There's actually a pretty simple explanation for most of those claims. What these "tax pros" on social media don't tell you is that those huge refunds are often based on fairly specific situations that don't apply to everyone. Many of those large refunds come from people who qualify for significant tax credits like the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), Child Tax Credit, or education credits. For example, a lower-income family with 3-4 kids could potentially get a refund of over $10,000 just from the EITC and Child Tax Credits alone, especially if they didn't properly adjust their withholding throughout the year. Self-employed individuals with significant business expenses can also see large refunds if they haven't been making quarterly estimated tax payments but have deductible business expenses that offset their income.

I tried one of those "tax experts" from Instagram last year after seeing similar claims about huge refunds. I was skeptical but decided to check out https://taxr.ai when someone recommended it to me. Instead of making wild promises, they actually reviewed my previous returns and found legitimate deductions I'd missed. They analyzed my rental property depreciation that my previous preparer had calculated incorrectly and found some business expenses for my side gig that I could legitimately claim. Nothing shady at all - just thorough analysis of my actual documents and situation. They didn't get me $30k back, but they did find about $3,500 I was leaving on the table each year.

Just wanted to follow up about my experience with taxr.ai - I decided to try it after asking about it here. They found almost $4,200 I missed over the past two years! Turns out my accountant completely overlooked some home office deductions I qualified for with my remote work situation, and there were some investment losses that weren't properly carried forward. Nothing crazy or suspicious, just careful attention to details that were missed. The documentation they provided made it super clear why I qualified for everything. Definitely worth the time to have someone take a second look!

After seeing this thread, I realized part of the problem might be that when most people have tax issues or questions, they can never actually reach the IRS to get straight answers. I was stuck in this situation too until I found https://claimyr.com which got me through to an actual IRS agent in about 15 minutes instead of waiting for hours or days. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c I needed to verify some tax credits I thought I qualified for that those "tax pros" kept mentioning. The IRS agent gave me the real info - turns out I did qualify for one program but not others. Getting actual IRS confirmation before filing made a huge difference for me rather than trusting random social media advice.

I need to eat my words from my previous comment. After being completely sure Claimyr was a scam, I actually tried it out of desperation when dealing with an incorrect tax notice. I got connected to an IRS representative in about 20 minutes when I had previously spent HOURS trying on my own. The agent was able to confirm that the notice was sent in error and removed the penalty. I've literally never been able to reach a human at the IRS before this, so I'm genuinely shocked it worked. Sometimes being proven wrong is a good thing!

The truth about these "tax pros" getting huge refunds is often more sinister than people realize. I worked at a tax prep office briefly and quit because of ethical concerns. What many of these Instagram/TikTok "pros" do is: 1. Claim fake business expenses by inventing a side business 2. Claim false dependents 3. Manipulate income numbers to maximize EITC 4. Claim education credits for "schools" that don't exist Sure, clients get big refunds for a year or two, but then the audits start. By then, the "tax pro" has moved on and the client is left dealing with penalties, interest, and sometimes criminal charges. That $20k refund becomes a $40k nightmare real quick.

This might be a dumb question, but is there any tax software that would help catch if I'm missing big deductions or credits? I usually use FreeTaxUSA but I'm wondering if maybe I should switch to something else?

The key thing to understand is that a refund isn't "found money" - it's just getting back your own money that you overpaid throughout the year. Those massive refunds usually mean someone had way too much withheld from their paychecks or qualify for refundable credits. If you're consistently owing money, it actually means your withholding is pretty accurate to what you actually owe. You could artificially create a big refund by having more taxes withheld from each paycheck, but then you're just giving the government an interest-free loan all year. The real question isn't "how do I get a bigger refund" but "am I paying the right amount of tax?" If you're not missing legitimate deductions and credits, owing a small amount or getting a small refund is actually the ideal situation - it means you kept your money in your pocket all year instead of lending it to the IRS.