State Refund Amount Lower Than Tax Preparer's Calculation - No Obvious Offsets

Have you checked if there were any calculation differences between what your preparer estimated and what the state actually processed? Could there be credits or deductions that weren't approved? Did your preparer perhaps use a different method for calculating certain items than what your state allows? It's quite common for states to make adjustments that aren't immediately obvious.

The same thing happened to me. My refund was $243 less than what my tax guy said I'd get. I called the state tax office and they told me straight up that they disallowed one of my deductions. No notice, no warning, just less money. Check your state's tax website and look at your processed return - it'll show exactly what they changed.

This happens a lot. State adjustments are common. They should send you a letter. Most never arrives. Try calling your state tax office. Good luck getting through though. I spent three days trying. Finally used Claimyr to connect with an agent. Worth every penny. Got through in 20 minutes. They explained exactly what happened. Had my answer right away. No more confusion.

I've had this happen twice in the past few years! The state can make adjustments for several reasons: • Different interpretation of qualifying deductions • Math errors (yes, even with software) • Credits that apply federally but not at state level • Income reported to state that wasn't on your return • Adjustment to withholding amounts Wow, I never realized how complicated state taxes could be until I started tracking this stuff! They're supposed to send a notice explaining any changes, but those notices sometimes arrive weeks after the refund.

This is almost certainly an adjustment made by your state tax authority. Have you received any notices in the mail explaining the difference? Did your preparer include any state-specific credits that might have been disallowed? Can you log into your state tax portal and view the processed return? The difference should appear as a specific line item adjustment. If you compare the original return with the processed version, you should be able to identify exactly what changed. Would you be able to check that?

Last year I had almost the exact same situation with my state refund. I was expecting around $780 based on what my tax person prepared, but only got $612 deposited. I was so confused! I eventually found out that my state had a different interpretation of a home office deduction than the federal guidelines. My tax preparer hadn't realized that my state had changed their rules that year. Once I brought the discrepancy to my preparer's attention, they actually helped me understand the difference and even gave me a discount on this year's preparation as an apology for missing it. Might be worth having a conversation with your tax person to see if they can explain what happened.

Have you checked your state's department of revenue website? Most states now have online portals where you can see your processed return. The IRS.gov site mentions that states often make adjustments without clear notification. I'm a bit worried this might be happening more frequently this year based on posts I've seen.

Did your tax preparer give you a copy of the return they filed? It's like having a recipe and then being surprised when the cake comes out different - you need to compare the ingredients. States often apply different rules than federal returns, much like how different ovens might require temperature adjustments. What was the percentage difference between expected and actual? Small discrepancies under 10% are common, but larger ones usually indicate a specific disallowed item rather than a calculation error.

I went through something very similar last year! My state refund was about $150 less than what my tax preparer calculated. It turned out the state had different rules for a charitable deduction that I claimed - they required additional documentation that wasn't needed for the federal return. The frustrating part was that the adjustment notice didn't arrive until almost a month after I received the reduced refund. I'd definitely recommend logging into your state's tax portal if they have one - that's where I found the detailed explanation of what was adjusted. Also, don't hesitate to reach out to your tax preparer about this. Mine was very helpful in explaining the state-specific rules and even helped me gather the proper documentation for future years.