Is there a way to see how much of the refund is from each credit or deduction?

Thanks for the info! I looked at the Tax Tools menu but I'm still having trouble finding the exact breakdown of how much each credit added to my refund. For example, I claimed the American Opportunity Credit for my son's college and also the Child Tax Credit, but I can't tell how much each one specifically added to my refund. Does TurboTax have a feature that shows something like "Your refund increased by $X because of the Child Tax Credit"? Also, is there a difference between how refundable vs. non-refundable credits appear in this breakdown?

You can find more specific breakdowns by going to the "Review" section in TurboTax and clicking on "See All Tax Breaks" or a similarly named option. This should show you a list of all credits and deductions you qualified for with their specific amounts. The difference between refundable and non-refundable credits is important for understanding their impact. Non-refundable credits can only reduce your tax to zero but not below, while refundable credits can actually add to your refund even if you don't owe any tax. In the forms, refundable credits (like Additional Child Tax Credit or Earned Income Credit) appear directly on Form 1040 in the Payments section because they're treated like money you've already paid to the IRS.

Does it work with returns from other tax software too? I use FreeTaxUSA and have the same question as OP. Would love to understand which deductions are actually making a difference in my return.

I'm a bit hesitant to upload my tax docs to some random website. How secure is this? Do they store your tax info after analyzing it?

Yes, it works with any tax return - FreeTaxUSA, H&R Block, even if you did your taxes with a professional. As long as you have your completed return as a PDF, you can upload it and get the breakdown. Regarding security, I had the same concern initially. They use bank-level encryption and don't store your documents after analysis. Their privacy policy was pretty clear that they don't keep your tax docs on their servers once the analysis is complete, and they don't share your data with third parties. I actually really appreciated how transparent they were about that.

How does this even work? The IRS phone lines are always jammed, especially during tax season. I'm finding it hard to believe anything could get me through faster.

I'm skeptical. Sounds like you're just promoting some service. I've heard there's no secret backdoor to the IRS - everyone has to wait on hold like everyone else. How could this possibly work?

It works by using an automated system that navigates through all the IRS phone menus and holds your place in line so you don't have to. It basically calls continuously using smart technology to stay in the queue. When it reaches an actual human IRS agent, it connects them to your phone. I was skeptical too! But the IRS doesn't have any system to know if it's a service holding versus a person holding. All they know is there's a caller in the queue. The service just handles the tedious holding part for you, and you only pay if they actually get you connected to an agent.

Where exactly is the What-If Scenarios tool in TurboTax? I'm looking through the menus but can't seem to find it anywhere. Is it only in certain versions like Premier or Self-Employed?

It's available in the Deluxe version and higher. Look under the "Tax Tools" section on the left navigation panel. If you're using the online version, you might find it under "Tools" or sometimes they call it "Tax Planner" instead of "What-If Scenarios." If you can't find it, another approach is to make a copy of your return (there should be an option for this) and then modify the copy by removing one credit at a time to see how it affects your refund.

No, the IRS doesn't provide that level of breakdown with your refund deposit or check. They'll send you a notice confirming your refund amount was processed, but it doesn't break down which credits contributed what amount. The only way to get that detailed info is either through your tax software analysis, manually calculating it yourself by looking at your forms, or contacting the IRS directly and asking an agent to walk through it with you.

Thanks for clarifying! That's too bad - would be so helpful if they did that automatically. Feels like it would help people better understand their taxes and maybe even catch errors if something looks off compared to what they were expecting.