My refund during E-filing is only half of what it usually is. Could it be from a few months of owed child support? Is C.S. addressed during or before the IRS reviews it?

Child support owed would be addressed after you file  TurboTax does not receive information from the IRS during the preparation of your return, so any items that might offset your tax refund after you file will not show up in the initial calculation of your tax refund.  

Here are some of the common things that can cause your refund to be different from the year before:

• A change in filing status.
• A dependent who turned 17 during the year.
• Earning significantly more income.
• Earning significantly less income.
• A dependent or taxpayer graduating college (loss of education credits.)
• A change in job (that changes withholding).
• Changes to Form W-4 (withholding). 

It is helpful to compare the information about your tax years side by side.

If you used TurboTax to prepare your taxes last year, you can do this with our tax summary tool. 

To do view your tax summary:

• Login toTurboTax.com.
• Click on Tax Home on the left side of the screen.
• If prompted, click on Continue where I left off or Take me to my return.
• Click on Tax Tools.
• Click on Tools.
• In the box that pops up, click View Tax Summary under Other helpful links.
  • Compare 2019 to 2018 to see where the differences lie. If you see the greatest difference in Total Payments, this may indicate that you need to adjust your withholding.  (Particularly if total credits have not also decreased.)

You can also click on Preview my 1040, which now appears on the left to see the first few pages of your tax return. 

If you would like to check to see if your refund might be subject to an offset for child support or any other items, call 1-800-304-3107 and follow the prompts.