What should I really be getting back?

So, I was able to file my taxes on the 21st, and the IRS has already accepted them. I’m getting only $168 back. It was very similar last year. I paid over $4k in taxes just in 2024, and I even had my workplace take an extra $10 every paycheck to put towards it. I paid ~$2.1k towards federal and just under $1k for state. The rest bringing it over were various others like social security and medical.

I filed with HR Block exclusively for the last 4/5 years. I filed on my own using their online service with the recommended standard deduction ($14,600). A coworker and I were discussing it, and she insists I should be getting a lot more back than I am. I have no other investments, stocks, or homeownership. No children, no dependents.

I held one full-time job the entire year, so there was only one W-2 to handle. If I’m missing any information you need to answer this question, please let me know.

Edit: Reviewing my W-2 and realized it was closer to $2k than $2.8k. I’m sure that makes a big difference, too.

What is in box 1 and box 2 of your W-2?

Getting $168 back means you only overpaid by $168. It’s strange, but unfortunately common, that your coworker thinks you should be overpaying more throughout the year to get a larger refund.

@Wynn
Box 1: $33,676.78. Box 2: $2,087.60. My coworker is also married and has children and other dependents, so I think our returns genuinely can’t be fairly compared. If it makes a difference, my SS taxes were $2,087.96 and Medicare was $488.31.

@Oakley
Everything works out. Your coworker, if she makes a similar amount to you, would also qualify for (depending on spouse’s income) the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit. You wouldn’t qualify for these programs as a single person with your income.

But your coworker likely isn’t aware of how these programs work, only that she receives money back when she files.

@Oakley
Rough math off the top of my head:

Total income: $33,677

Minus standard deduction: $14,600

Taxable income: $19,077

Tax due: ~$2,057

Anything in Box 2 in excess of $2,057 should be your refund, assuming all info is posted here.

The SS and Medicare taxes do not apply to the income tax return (generally, unless you exceeded the SS earnings cap).

The refund is just your change from paying your tax bill. It means you didn’t take money out of your pocket and send it to the government for them to use, and then ask for it back later.

Comparing your refund with someone else is like asking your coworker how much change they got when they went shopping. There are too many variables, and does the change even matter?

Don’t listen to someone who says ‘you should be getting a lot more back.’ That’s a clear indication that they have no idea what they are talking about.

The most important missing piece of information is how much income you had. It’s like saying you handed a cashier $100 and got $5 in change, and wondering if that is correct, without telling us the actual price of the items you bought. Your tax refund is like the change you get from overpaying your tax bill. The tax bill itself is based on your income.

@Jules
This is a very good way to explain how tax returns work.

Oakley said:
@Jules
This is a very good way to explain how tax returns work.

It’s a decent analogy, although like all analogies it falls short if you push it far enough. Unfortunately, it seems like most people assume a tax refund is like a reward or bonus or rebate from the government based on other factors. It’s not, except in the case of people who have no tax liability at all due to low income, and yet still qualify for refundable credits like the Earned Income Credit or the Child Tax Credit. In that case, those credits are really just government support programs that happen to be administered through the tax system.

It also doesn’t help that people think the phrase ‘tax return’ refers to the money you get, like a return on investment. In reality, the word ‘return’ refers to the set of documents you file (i.e., Form 1040). It’s a ‘tax return’ in the same way that your census form is a ‘census return’ and the tally of results from a voting precinct is an ‘election return.’ It’s a return of information from you to the government.

If you’ve had HR Block do it for 5 years and then you did it and got similar results, there is no reason to think it is wrong.

If you only have a single job and nothing else, then that makes it straightforward.

Unless your coworker and yourself have the exact same circumstances, salary, and withholdings… then what they say is meaningless. If they are getting a lot more back, then they probably have their W-4 wrong.

Plus, we can’t answer your question because you’d have to give a lot more details than you have.

@Paz
I filed on my own through HR Block’s online free filing option.

Oakley said:
@Paz
I filed on my own through HR Block’s online free filing option.

Still nothing to worry about. Anyone bragging about getting a big refund doesn’t realize they were the ones who were paying too much tax during the year. You’re giving the government a free loan.

If your refunds are near zero, your withholdings were just about right.

@Paz
I’m just glad I don’t owe anything! A few years back I ended up owing almost $300. Turns out my job at the time hadn’t taken out enough, and I ended up having to dip into savings to pay it.

Unless your coworker sat down and did your taxes, they are not qualified to make any judgment on your situation.

A refund is a simple math equation. It’s just the difference between your calculated tax liability and the amount you already pre-paid through withholdings. Comparing your refund to someone else’s makes little sense.

What does your W-2 have in box 1?

How is it possible the IRS has accepted your individual taxes when the IRS window for filing individual returns starts on Monday the 27th?

People often compare themselves to others who are in wildly different tax situations, but still expect similar results. Married, kids, other dependents change everything significantly. Almost no one ever talks about ALL the stuff that impacts their taxes; some element is always too private to discuss. Someone’s on disability, someone gets extra tax credits because of some weird thing, someone’s working under the table, someone was gifted a lot of money, someone’s outright lying on their taxes but they don’t know it.

Talking about your taxes with other people is almost as dangerous as getting advice from TikTok/Instagram.

@Chen
I was able to file through HR Block. I got the confirmation emails that both state and federal were submitted correctly, then a few days later (Thursday), received another email that one of them has been accepted. The other is still pending.

@Chen
The IRS accepts some batches earlier than the official start date to make sure the system is working properly and ready to go.