TurboTax

File with experts
File your taxes
Experts at your fingertips

An expert helps with your taxes, or does them for you
TurboTax Expert Full Service

TurboTax Expert Assist

TurboTax Self-Employed
Prior year taxes
File myself
File myself
Do it yourself

We'll guide you step-by-step
TurboTax Do It Yourself

TurboTax Self-Employed

TurboTax Desktop
TurboTax Free

Activate your product

Prior year taxes
Business
Business
Business taxes

Get your T2 corporate return done right, your way
TurboTax Business

TurboTax Business Desktop
Tax situations
Tax situations
Tax situations

Find extra guidance for your big life moves
For investors

For 25 and younger

For self-employed

For new to Canada

For life changes
Resources
Resources
Resources

Explore tax tools, get tips, and read reviews
Personal income tax calculator

RRSP savings calculator

Learning hub

TurboTax support (FAQ)

TurboTax community
Pricing

Community

Solved

2024 Tax Calculation is wrong

Forum|Forum|1 year ago
January 28, 2025
3 replies
0 views

I'm using TurboTax Desktop and it is calculating my FIT liability higher than what I'm calculating by hand. Where do I find this calculation in TT? I've been using TT for years and never had this problem. I always manually check all the amounts TT provides and make sure I have support for all the numbers?

Other

Best answer by DoninGA

DoninGA,

I am not sharing personal information on this chat. The taxable income on line 15 is under $94,300 and over $23,200. I have seen rounding of $1.00 in TurboTax from time to time, but I want to see how the calculation in TurboTax to see why I have a different amount.

Thanks,

Tim

@thohman55 OK...But you are not going to find how the taxes were calculated in TurboTax if the tax tables were used. That is an internal calculation that is not visible to users.

Since your taxable income is less than $100,000 and assuming no other type of income other than taxable interest, dividends and wages were entered, the the taxes should be based on the tax tables on pages 64 thru 75 in the Form 1040 Instructions - https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040gi.pdf

BillM223

A common issue is when the taxpayer has qualifying dividends or capital gains, because these are taxed differently than ordinary income. There is a worksheet for this called Qual Div/Cap Gn, which you can see in the desktop product by going into Forms mode (upper right) and looking for "Qual Div/Cap Gn" on the left.

There are a number of other tax calculations as well (considerably less common). Look on Line 16 on the 1040 - were any of the boxes checked? If so, then go to those forms for the tax calculation.

Where do you see the error? I ask because the tax appears to be calculated in a number of places, and it difficult to talk about this if we don't know which line you are concerned about.

**Say "Thanks" by clicking the thumb icon in a post**Mark the post that answers your question by clicking on "Mark as Best Answer"

Angelo6

I am trying to use this thread as guidance for how to better understand my tax computation. I was happy to see the menu guidance for where to go in "Forms" to find the worksheets needed but, most unfortunately, the Qualified Dividends and Capital Gains worksheet(s) that are pointed out do NOT appear in my tax results. This is enormously frustrating since I do have both and have entered them both and I am using the TurboTax Premier version. The status of the return at this stage is "ready to file but NOT officially filed". Any help you can provide will be appreciated.

DoninGA

Employee

@Angelo6 If the QD&CG worksheet was not in the list for your tax return, then it was not used for the taxes on the taxable income. The Schedule D Tax Worksheet may have been used.

You can open in form, schedule or worksheet by clicking Open Form at the top of the Forms mode page. Just type in the name and click on the highlighted result to open.

thohman55Author

Hi Bill,

Thanks for your response.

As far as other income, I do not have qualified dividends or capital gains to report.

None of the boxes for Line 16 are checked.

This is a basic calculation. Per the 2024 tax table MFJ, the tax rate is 10% on the first $23,200 and 12% on the amount over $23,000. I do this calculation on a calculator or in a spreadsheet and it is lower than TurboTax's calculation. Clicking on Line16 takes me to the Tax Smart Worksheet which only show the tax amount. In grade school we were told to show your work. I want to see the calculation in TurboTax to see who is correct.

Thanks.

Tim Hohman

DoninGA

Employee

@thohman55 What is the amount of taxable income on Line 15 of the Form 1040? And the amount of taxes on Line 16?

The taxes on Line 16 can be calculated differently based on the type of income entered.

Go to the Form 1040 Instructions for Line 16 and see if your taxes are affected by the various taxes that can be applied - https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040gi.pdf#page=33

thohman55Author

DoninGA,

Thanks,

Tim

wrn2pa

My total taxable income after the standard deduction is $36,709. TT is stating that I owe $5,392. But, that doesn't align with the US tax tables for 2024: 10% for the first 11,600 and 12% for everything thereafter, thus $1,160 + ((36,709-11,600)*.12) = $4,173.08. I'm not a mathematician nor an accountant but the math seems pretty straightforward. I'm wondering now what other internal errors there might be.

MonikaK1

There may be several reasons that your total Federal tax liability doesn't match the tax tables.

A blended tax rate, also known as the effective tax rate, is derived from a number of factors. The effective tax rate for individuals is the average rate at which their earned income, such as wages, and unearned income, such as stock dividends, are taxed. If you received income from a variety of things like stocks and bonds, interest, dividends, or self-employment, they may all play a role in determining your blended tax rate. See this thread for another discussion of this issue.

For Federal income taxes, the tax rate brackets for 2024 are 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35%, and 37%. To see how the tax brackets apply to you for this year, and for a tool to determine your marginal (the highest part of your income) tax rate, see here.

Also, note that taxes are often calculated using a different method than the tax tables. For example, if you have capital gains, the tax on those is calculated at the capital gain rate for your income level. If you are self-employed, you may have self-employment taxes in addition to income taxes.

See this help article for more information.

You can preview your return before filing to find out how your taxes were calculated. See here for details.

**Say "Thanks" by clicking the thumb icon in a post**Mark the post that answers your question by clicking on "Mark as Best Answer"

wrn2pa

Hey MonikaK1,

So, there no are self-employment, no capital gains, no dividends, no stocks; even if there were, TT is stating that the taxable income for me (a single filer) is $36k and change. If TT isn’t using the tax tables because they are using their own formula, then it’s better for me to just perform the exercise using IRS forms and submitting manually, thereby spending less on taxes and saving money that I’d otherwise be paying to TT. (BTW, I did do the calculations by hand and that’s how I recognized the discrepancy—my sis is an accountant and she checks my work.)