turbo tax question - it pulled an incorrect number

[Grumpy's Gal]

last year we received a $101 refund from the state. we used turbo tax and the printed out copy of the tax return said $101 and we received a $101 refund.

This year when turbo tax imported our numbers, it says $156 for last year instead of $101.

????????

anyone know how to change that number?

Thanks for any help.

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

Do you have to pay a use tax on online purchases? In NC, we have to pay sales tax on untaxed online purchases, and that amount is either added to the amount we owe or deducted from our refund. Even though it is processed with our taxes, it is not an income tax but a sales tax and is not deductible (unless you choose to deduct sales tax instead of state income tax paid).

Turbo Tax always has a different number for us than our 1099-G or our amount owed.

 

[Grumpy's Gal]

that's not it.

But curious....why is that number different from the 1099-G?

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

I don't know, exactly, but I asked on the Turbo Tax forums and was told that the use tax is not an income tax - it is just paid out of the refund or added to the amount we owe (probably partly for taxpayer convenience, but mostly so NC gets its sales tax). The 1099-G reports the income tax refund without considering whether or not use tax is owed. This is the first year I noticed it since we always pay NC, but TT said we had a refund last year (of $4 ).

You have me curious now, though - I wonder if I got bad advice on the TT forums? It did make sense to me, but since your number is also different, I wonder if something else is up.

We never did get a 1099-G from NC, but we reported the $4 refund like TT imported. Worst case, we erred on the side of caution and overpaid a little bit, but the TT forum explanation does make sense in our case.