Why is my state refund status different from what I calculated?

What an awful feeling. You spent all that time figuring out your state tax return and calculating your refund amount. Now, you check your state refund status and find out the amount is totally different. Or even worse, you find out the day you get your check in the mail!

You’re naturally upset. However, there are valid reasons why your state refund status amount is different than what you calculated.

It Was Reviewed
You may believe you did everything correctly on your tax return form. However, this may not have been the case. One tiny miscalculation can lead to a domino effect that affects the rest of the form up and hurts your state refund status.

The state tax office may notice a problem on your tax forms that you did not see. In this case, they will recalculate your form. Even if the amount they find was the same, there may be fees on your account from the error. This will mean your state refund status amount will be lower than you calculated.

The state tax office might also just choose your return at random to look over. They do this to check for errors that might have slipped through. Again if you have any miscalculations or forgotten receipts, then your state refund status could be lower than you hoped.

Garnishments
Do you have any unpaid taxes or student loans you forgot about? How about child support or alimony? If any of these haven’t paid in a while, your state refund status funds could be garnished. This would mean you getting much less than you hoped, including a big fat zero!

Also keep in mind that if you were involved in a lawsuit your state refund status funds might not be garnished. However, you might still need to pay a portion of that refund to the settlement. This means your state refund status money was never yours in the first place. If you’re unsure, check with your lawyer or the court.

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