Need help understanding tax refund calculations - am I missing something?

The difference in your refund is likely due to several factors working together. First, your income increased by $11,000, which could push you into a higher tax bracket for some of that additional income. Even with the same withholding setup percentage-wise, the actual amount withheld might not have scaled proportionally with your higher income. Regarding the continuing education course, it's worth noting that the Lifetime Learning Credit has income limitations and phase-outs. At $62,000 for a single filer, you might be in or approaching the phase-out range, which could explain why you're not seeing much benefit from that expense. Another thing to check is if you had any one-time credits or deductions last year that aren't applicable this year. For example, there were some temporary COVID-related tax benefits in previous years that have since expired.

I was in almost your exact situation last year! My refund dropped dramatically even though my withholdings seemed the same. After hours of frustration, I finally used taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) to analyze my return and compare it with the previous year. The tool actually showed me exactly where the differences were coming from - turns out I had some tax credits in the previous year that had expired, plus my withholding hadn't actually increased proportionally with my salary. The best part was being able to see a side-by-side comparison of both years and understanding exactly where the changes were. It also gave me specific suggestions for adjusting my W-4 for this year so I won't have the same shock next year.

Wow, I finally got around to trying taxr.ai after being so skeptical in my previous comment. I uploaded my last two years of returns and was blown away by how detailed the analysis was. It showed me that my withholding had actually DECREASED as a percentage of my income even though the dollar amount went up slightly. It also pointed out that I had received a one-time education credit last year that I wasn't eligible for this year, which explained about $800 of my missing refund. The site even generated a personalized W-4 form with suggestions that I could give to my HR department. Definitely worth checking out if you're confused about tax changes from year to year.

If you need to talk to the IRS about your specific situation, I highly recommend using Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). I spent DAYS trying to get through the regular IRS phone line with no luck, but Claimyr got me connected to an actual IRS agent in less than 20 minutes. I was dealing with a similar refund issue and was convinced there was an error somewhere. The IRS agent was able to look at my previous returns and explain exactly why my refund had changed. They even identified a mistake in my filing that I was able to fix with an amendment. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c - seriously saved me hours of frustration and waiting on hold.

I have to eat my words from my previous comment. After waiting on hold with the IRS for over 3 hours and getting disconnected TWICE, I broke down and tried Claimyr out of desperation. I was connected to an IRS agent in about 15 minutes after my initial call. The agent confirmed that my withholding hadn't kept pace with my salary increase and explained exactly why my refund was smaller this year. They also helped me understand how to adjust my W-4 to get more consistent results in the future. I'm still annoyed that such a service needs to exist, but I can't deny it saved me a ton of time and frustration. Sometimes you have to admit when you're wrong!

Don't forget to check if you're still taking the standard deduction versus itemizing. With the higher standard deduction amounts in recent years, many people who used to itemize now take the standard deduction, which can affect your refund amount from year to year. Also, small changes in your income can sometimes push you over thresholds for certain credits or deductions, causing them to phase out. This happens to a lot of people and explains why refunds can vary widely between years even when it seems like not much has changed in your financial situation.

I've had this same issue! What worked for me was going through the detailed tax summary section in TurboTax. If you look at the actual forms and compare last year to this year, you can usually spot where the big differences are. In my case, I realized I had received a $1,500 tax credit last year for energy efficient home improvements that obviously didn't apply this year. Also check your effective tax rate for both years. Mine actually went down slightly, but my refund was smaller because my withholding wasn't proportional to my income increase.