Tax Refund Calculators

[Leta]

Is there a good one out there? I'm putting in the same info in different calculators, and getting wildly variable amounts back. $2900, $3700, $4600, etc.

I've been putting in that DH has not paid any withholding (even though I know he has, but not a ton) on a $34K income, 3 dependents (me, and two littles), married filing jointly, $5K in energy efficient home improvements. That's it. I should think that it's pretty straightforward.

Any thoughts?

[zebra15]

In the past I never get the calc's to work for me, the only way to get it 'right' is to actually file the taxes. Something I will be doing here in the next few weeks. Since there is rumor our state could be issuing IOU's in place of actual refunds I want to get my return in ASAP.

[UberMama]

Ditto the above. Most calculators won't work for many people, as everyone's taxes vary so much depending on what is withheld and such.

I am itching to get an estimate on ours. But even knowing how much we made last year, there's so many variables (due to DH getting paid from his employer, plus disability and then workman's comp), that I can't go anywhere and plug in info to get an estimate. :/

[goldingoddess]

I just used this one;

http://www.taxbrain.com/taxcalculator/default.asp

And it was pretty much exactly what we got refunded last year, so it must be pretty accurate. You need to know your wages and withholdings for state and federal taxes.

[Chloe&Coop'sMom]

Originally Posted by goldingoddess

I just used this one;

http://www.taxbrain.com/taxcalculator/default.asp

And it was pretty much exactly what we got refunded last year, so it must be pretty accurate. You need to know your wages and withholdings for state and federal taxes.

That one says 2008, which is probably why its exactly the same as your refund from last year

[Marcee]

H and R blocks calculator is pretty accurate. It is with in a few dollars of our actual refund.

[BJewels79]

I've used taxbrain and H&R block....they each gave me drastically different totals so far for what I put in (exact same for each one)....$3K for one and over $5K for the other! I'm hoping the $5K is correct, it was the closest one last year to what we actually got...

[Norasmomma]

The only H&R block one I found was 2007. I used the Tax Brain one and it said about 7000, which for us is probably close, with EIC and child tax credits. We're totally broke this past year, so that is probably why we'd get a bunch back-not sure though.

[MCsMom]

well I hope they are close, I like the amount they told me - lol

[MtBikeLover]

I use the one on the IRS site - it is very accurate.

[goldingoddess]

Originally Posted by Chloe&Coop'sMom

That one says 2008, which is probably why its exactly the same as your refund from last year

lol, that explains it!

[Drummer's Wife]

I used tax brain's 2009 version the other night -- but will have to check out H&R Block and the IRS's to compare.

ETA: H&R Block's 2009 estimator had the same refund amount for me as Tax Brain... that's good

[Hannah32]

Looks like I might owe just a bit. Income from seasonal jobs always throws stuff off. That's cool though, the seasonal job really did us some good.

[BJewels79]

Could someone point me to the one on the IRS site?

[sunflower.mama]

I do my own taxes w/turbo tax, so I usually open a second file and plug in the current year's info, as it has changed from the prior year's info. It usually gets me within a hundred dollars or so which is really helpful for planning purposes. Of course you need to stay on top of changes to the tax code to rely on this, which I do, although they generally don't impact us very much.

[MtBikeLover]

Originally Posted by BJewels79

Could someone point me to the one on the IRS site?

Here is the link:

http://www.irs.gov/individuals/page/0,,id=14806,00.html

[BJewels79]

Thanks for the link, however I was looking for the one that estimates how much of a refund I'll get. This one only tells how many allowances DH should claim (which we already know )

[BJewels79]

I hadn't thought about using TT...even though we use it to file every year! I just punched in a close estimate for our new numbers and looks like we are right in the middle of the other estimates....about $4K!

[MtBikeLover]

Originally Posted by BJewels79

Thanks for the link, however I was looking for the one that estimates how much of a refund I'll get. This one only tells how many allowances DH should claim (which we already know )

If you plug in all the info, it will estimate your return at the end of it. I always ignore the allowances info...the only thing I am interested in is the return amount.

It has always been dead on with what I actually will get back.

[shoefairy3]

i got a $3000 difference between the hrblock one and the taxbrain one