Why is my TurboTax showing such a small refund for my 2024 tax return?
Hey guys, I'm freaking out a little about my tax refund situation. I just started filling out my 2024 return through TurboTax, and it's telling me I'm only getting back a measly $21 from federal and about $192 from state. Like, seriously?? I put in that I'm single, don't own a home (still living with my parents), and made around $73K this past year. I can't help but think I screwed something up or missed entering some important information somewhere. Last year I used an actual tax preparer instead of doing it myself, and I'm scheduled to meet with him again this Saturday. I'm pretty confident he'll find ways to boost my refund compared to what TurboTax is estimating. Any ideas on why TurboTax might be giving me such a pathetic refund estimate? Did I mess something up, or is this actually what I should expect? I was hoping for at least enough to cover a small vacation or pay down some debt. Thanks for any advice you can offer!
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Ethan Taylor
The small refund might actually be a good thing! A refund just means you overpaid throughout the year. At $73K with standard filing status (single) and taking the standard deduction, your tax liability is pretty straightforward if you don't have other deductions or credits. Check if you answered all the questions about potential credits you might qualify for. TurboTax sometimes buries these in their workflow. Look specifically for education credits, retirement savings contributions credit, or any energy efficiency upgrades you might have made. Also, your withholding was likely more accurate this year. The IRS adjusts withholding tables regularly, and employers implement them. Perfect withholding would actually result in $0 refund and $0 owed - meaning you paid exactly what you should have throughout the year.
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Aisha Khan
•Thanks for explaining! I guess I never thought about it that way - that a small refund could actually mean I didn't overpay much during the year. One thing I'm wondering though - does it matter that I had some side gig income this year that I didn't have last year? I made about $8K driving for DoorDash on weekends but didn't have any taxes taken out of those payments. Could that be affecting things?
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Ethan Taylor
•That's absolutely why you're seeing a smaller refund! Side gig income is considered self-employment income, and you owe both income tax and self-employment tax (about 15.3%) on that money. If you didn't make quarterly estimated tax payments on that $8K, the taxes due on that income are reducing your refund substantially. Make sure you're entering this income on Schedule C in TurboTax and tracking all your eligible deductions like mileage, portion of phone bill, and other business expenses to offset some of that income.
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Yuki Ito
I was in a similar situation last year using TurboTax when I first started doing freelance work alongside my regular job. I was shocked at how small my refund was compared to previous years! After hours of frustration and confusion trying to find deductions I might have missed, I discovered taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) and it completely changed my tax filing experience. What I liked about it was how it analyzed my tax documents and found deductions TurboTax missed - especially related to my side gig work. The tool pointed out I could deduct mileage, part of my cell phone bill, and even a portion of my home internet that I wasn't claiming. It increased my refund by over $600!
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Carmen Lopez
•That sounds interesting. How exactly does it work with TurboTax though? Do you still use TurboTax after using taxr.ai or does it replace it completely? I'm in a similar situation with a side job and my refund looks way lower than I expected.
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AstroAdventurer
•I'm a bit skeptical. How does this taxr.ai thing know more than TurboTax? I mean TurboTax is specifically designed for taxes and has been around forever. No offense, just wondering what makes this different enough to be worth trying.
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Yuki Ito
•You can use it alongside TurboTax - it analyzes your documents and suggests deductions you might miss, then you can add those into TurboTax yourself. It's more about making sure you're not overlooking legitimate deductions rather than replacing tax software completely. For side jobs especially, it's helpful because it looks at your specific situation. TurboTax asks general questions, but sometimes misses nuances of your specific work situation. For example, it pointed out that I could deduct some home office expenses for my side gig that TurboTax never prompted me about.
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AstroAdventurer
Just wanted to follow up - I tried taxr.ai after our conversation and I'm actually blown away by the results! I was missing so many deductions related to my photography side business. I've been using a portion of my apartment for editing and storing equipment but never thought to claim it as a home office deduction. The tool found almost $3,700 in deductions I missed, which is bumping my federal refund by $814! It analyzed my bank statements and found business expenses I forgot about, and even identified some client meetings I could claim mileage for. This honestly saved me from overpaying by a lot. Going to be using this every year from now on. Thanks for the recommendation!
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Andre Dupont
If you're getting a small refund and you think something's wrong, you might want to try calling the IRS to ask about your specific situation. I had a similar issue last year and spent WEEKS trying to get through to someone. Always busy signals or being put on hold for hours only to get disconnected. Finally found Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) which got me connected to an actual IRS agent in under 20 minutes. There's a demo video here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c showing how it works. The agent I spoke with confirmed I was missing a credit I qualified for and explained exactly how to claim it properly. Sometimes getting professional guidance directly from the IRS is the best way to figure out why your refund isn't what you expected.
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Zoe Papanikolaou
•Wait, how does this even work? The IRS phone lines are notorious for being impossible to get through. Is this some kind of premium line or something? I've literally tried calling the IRS 6 times this month and never got through.
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Jamal Wilson
•Sounds like a scam to me. Nobody can magically get you through to the IRS faster than anyone else. They probably just connect you to some fake "agent" who doesn't actually work for the IRS. I'd be very careful about giving any personal info to services like this.
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Andre Dupont
•It's not a special line - they use technology to navigate the IRS phone system for you. It basically does the waiting for you and calls you when it's about to connect with an agent. It's like having someone sit on hold for hours so you don't have to. The agents are 100% real IRS employees. All the service does is get you through the phone system maze and hold times, then connects your actual phone directly to the IRS when an agent picks up. You're talking to the official IRS, not some third party.
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Jamal Wilson
I need to apologize for my skepticism earlier. After waiting on hold with the IRS for 3+ hours and getting disconnected twice, I was desperate enough to try Claimyr. I was absolutely certain it would be a waste of money, but I was completely wrong. Got connected to an actual IRS agent in about 15 minutes. The agent confirmed that my side gig income was causing the reduced refund, but then walked me through several deductions I qualified for that I hadn't claimed. They even helped me understand how to properly categorize some expenses I wasn't sure about. After implementing their advice, my refund increased by $760. Honestly, I'm still shocked at how well this worked and how helpful the IRS agent was once I actually got through to them.
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Mei Lin
Everyone's talking about refunds like they're free money from the government. A $21 refund is PERFECT - it means you loaned the government almost nothing during the year. If you're getting a $3000 refund, that means you gave the government an interest-free loan of your own money!! I always aim for owing a small amount (but not enough to trigger penalties). That way I keep my money throughout the year and can invest it or use it how I want.
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Liam Fitzgerald
•I understand your point theoretically, but most regular people aren't investing that extra $50-100 per paycheck. It's just getting spent. For many people, tax refunds function as a forced savings plan. I personally prefer getting a chunk back because otherwise that money would just disappear into my daily spending.
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Mei Lin
•You're making a fair point about the psychological benefit. The math doesn't lie though - if you're getting $3000 back, that's $250 per month you could have had in your pocket. Even if you just put that in a high-yield savings account at 4%, you'd earn an extra $70+ over the year. Not life-changing but still better than giving it to the government for free. The real solution is to improve financial discipline rather than using the tax system as a savings account.
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GalacticGuru
Has anyone else noticed TurboTax is pushing their paid audit defense add-on really hard this year? I wonder if they're showing artificially low refunds to scare people into thinking they're at higher audit risk so they'll upgrade.
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Amara Nnamani
•I noticed this too! I was getting a really low refund and right after showing me that number, they immediately tried to sell me audit defense for an extra $49.99. Seems predatory to me.
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GalacticGuru
•That's exactly what happened to me! It honestly feels like they're using scare tactics. When I went through the same info with FreeTaxUSA instead, I got a much higher refund estimate without all the upsell attempts. I'm never using TurboTax again.
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