i was employed and filed last year my income was $16,734.00, total axes paid ( state federal, medic, local,soc sec) were about $3,900, i got close to a $3000 refund, i did simple refund, i have unemployed spouse we filled jointly

this year i made a total of $51,000 and paid $11,000
in total taxes (state ,local, federeal, social, medic for both w2's)::... my spouse is still un employed same as last year but when i tried to do efile its showing i am going to get only $2000 return, and one even said it was going to be less that $1000

i dont know whats going on, can someone help me

all my activities in both years were the same, i live in the same house (renting) and was filing a standard return on both cases.. i dont have children either and no one can claim either me or my wife as their dependents..

teh situation is almost identical from last year and this year the only difference is that i was absorbed from my temp job to my company thus the 2 W2's and the increased amount of both the income and the taxes

The most important thing to remember is the not the total taxes paid but rather the amount of the Federal Income Tax withholding that has been reported on the W-2. I think that because of the tax law stimulus over the summer, the reduced mandatory Federal Income tax withholding may have contributed to some extent to your lower tax refund! This lower tax federal income refund appears to be happening to many taxpayers in 2009!

The only other explanation that seems to explain this unfortunate sitatuation is that perhaps in 2008, with your lower income base, you may have qualified for the Earned Income Tax Credit. Per the IRS, "the earned income credit (EITC) is a tax credit for certain people who work and have low wages."

For the tax year 2009, you would not qualify for this tax credit as you need your income to be less than $18,440 for married filing jointly, if you do not have a qualifying child! Thus, I suspect in 2008 you qualified for this tax credit and in 2009 when you tried to do your taxes your refund was lower!

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