I'm confused - why doesn't my tax due amount match total taxes paid minus tax liability? Numbers don't add up!

What you're experiencing is actually a common point of confusion. The formula is actually that tax due equals tax liability minus total taxes paid (not the other way around). So the correct calculation would be: Tax liability ($9,345) - Total taxes paid ($7,520) = Tax due ($1,825) This makes sense because if your liability is higher than what you've already paid, you still owe money. If your liability is lower than what you've paid, you get a refund. However, I'm still concerned about the discrepancy between $1,825 and $2,354. There might be penalties or interest included in that total. For example, if you didn't pay enough throughout the year via withholding or estimated payments, there could be an underpayment penalty added. Or there might be interest on taxes owed from a previous year.

I was in the exact same boat last month! Completely confused by my tax numbers not adding up. I spent hours going through my forms line by line and was about to give up when a friend recommended I try https://taxr.ai to diagnose calculation issues. It turns out I had a similar situation where I mixed up the order in the formula (tax liability minus taxes paid, not the other way around), plus I had some self-employment income I didn't realize would affect my total liability! The tool analyzed my tax documents and picked up on calculation discrepancies right away. Saved me from potentially making a costly error on my return. If you're still stuck, might be worth uploading your docs there to get clarity on exactly what's causing that $529 difference. Their system highlighted specific lines on my tax forms that weren't adding up correctly.

I wanted to follow up about my experience with taxr.ai after asking about it in this thread. I decided to give it a try with my confusing tax calculations, and wow, it actually found exactly what was causing my numbers to be off! Turns out I had a health insurance premium tax credit recalculation that was being added to my tax due amount that I completely missed. The system highlighted the exact lines on my forms where the discrepancy was happening, which made it super clear. Totally worth it for the peace of mind. Just wanted to share in case anyone else is banging their head against the wall with tax calculations that don't make sense!

If you're still having trouble understanding your tax calculation or getting an answer from the IRS, I'd recommend trying https://claimyr.com - it helped me get through to an actual IRS agent in under 45 minutes when I had a similar calculation issue. I was getting nowhere trying to call myself and waiting for hours. I was skeptical at first but you can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The IRS agent I spoke with explained that there were additional adjustments to my tax liability that weren't immediately obvious from the form (in my case it was related to an education credit recapture). Talking to someone directly cleared it up in minutes rather than weeks of confusion.

I need to eat my words about Claimyr being a scam. After posting my skeptical comment, I was still desperate to figure out my own tax calculation issue with a missing stimulus payment credit. I decided to try it as a last resort before filing an amended return. It actually worked exactly as advertised. I got a call back when they had an IRS agent on the line, and I was able to get my question answered in minutes. The agent explained that there was a specific worksheet I needed to complete for the Recovery Rebate Credit that was causing my calculation error. Would have saved me weeks of stress if I'd tried it sooner instead of being cynical. Sometimes new services really do solve problems in ways we haven't thought of before.

Has anyone checked if there are penalties included in that tax due amount? If you didn't have enough withholding throughout the year, there could be an underpayment penalty. The IRS expects you to pay taxes as you earn income throughout the year, not just at tax time.

No one has mentioned tax credits! The formula isn't just "tax liability minus taxes paid." Tax credits come into play too and could explain the discrepancy. Tax due = Tax liability - (Taxes paid + Tax credits

I had a very similar issue last year and it drove me crazy for weeks! The $529 difference you're seeing could be from several sources that aren't immediately obvious: 1. **Additional Medicare Tax** - If your income exceeded certain thresholds ($200k single/$250k married), there's an extra 0.9% Medicare tax that gets added to your total tax liability. 2. **Net Investment Income Tax** - If you have investment income and your modified AGI exceeds the thresholds, there's a 3.8% tax on investment income that gets tacked on. 3. **Premium Tax Credit Reconciliation** - If you received advance premium tax credits for health insurance through the marketplace, you might owe some back if your actual income was higher than estimated. 4. **Prior Year Balance** - Sometimes there's an outstanding balance from a previous tax year that gets rolled into your current year's amount due. The best thing to do is go through your tax form line by line and look for any additional taxes or adjustments that might not be part of your basic income tax calculation. These "extra" taxes can really throw off the simple liability-minus-payments formula that most people expect to work. Check lines 16-23 on Form 1040 - that's where most of these additional taxes show up. One of those lines probably has that missing $529!