I worked as an intern for about 12 months during 2013 under a J1 visa, and I'm dealing with a company called taxback.com to get my tax refund. I recently got an email from them telling that they received my state refund for 2013 with the value of $237 which after deduction becomes $121.

That didn't sound right so I contacted a friend who used to be my coworker, he actually was part of the same internship program. I tried to investigate how much was his refund, and he answered $550 just for the state tax refund, let alone the federal refund! ... what's even more confusing is that my friend worked only for 7 months during 2013. We both have the exact same salary, the only difference is that I worked longer (12 months in my case).

I contacted taxback.com to ask for an explanation, they answered the more you get as annual income the less you get back from your taxes... that's the general rule they said.

Anybody can confirm or deny their explanation/pretext? I can provide my W-2 if needed

Your help would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

I guess Most of the time that is correct; generally, the more income you make, the more tax you will pay. Of course, it will depend upon many factors, including what deductions you might have. Your refund (the return is the form itself) is based on two things. The amount withheld and the amount you owe. the more you owe, the more likelihood the withholding wasn't enough. the more you make, the more you owe per dollar made. The US uses a progressive tax system.
On your tax return, you compute what tax you owe for the year, and compare it to what was withheld for income tax. If too much ot more orless was withheld, you get the extra/ motre or less refunded. If not enough was withheld, you have to pay the difference. As you can see, you are exempt from Social security and medicare taxes taxes for 5 years. You, as an International Student, can file IRS Form 843 and Form 8316 to Claim Social Security and Medicare Tax refund, if the fica taxes were withheld( and the withholding’d reduce your refund amount) in error, on your wages. Basically,your refund means: through the year you might have money withheld from your paycheck for federal/state income taxes. At the end of the year, you prepare a form called a tax return to calculate how much tax you owe total for the year, and compare that to what was withheld. If you had more or less withheld than your total tax, you get more or less extra back as a refund. If you didn't have enough withheld, you have to pay the rest rather than getting a refund.


i guess for more accurate info, you need to contact taxback.com.Only they know what happened to your W2.

Thank you for the reply Wnhough.

I actually contacted taxback.com a couple times, and their answer as stated in my former post. They also said my tax docs went through multiple teams before they were validated and filed, which leaves no chance to error.

I guess I'll just need to trust them and accept whatever they say... after all I chose to deal with them at the first place.

Thanks again
-Ahmed