Huge discrepancy between H&R Block vs TurboTax tax estimator results - $3000 difference

Tax pro here. These estimators are notoriously unreliable because they don't capture all the nuances of your tax situation. They're basically just rough guesses based on limited info. You need to actually go through the full filing process to get an accurate number.

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lol welcome to tax szn where everything's made up and the points dont matter 🤡

I had the same issue last year! Ended up going with H&R Block and my actual refund was right in the middle of what both estimated. These tools are about as accurate as a weather forecast fr fr

The estimators are trash honestly. They dont factor in state taxes properly and miss tons of deductions. Best bet is to just do your full return or talk to a professional

Its probs because they handle the earned income credit differently in the estimator phase. Same thing happened to me but the final numbers were way closer once I actually did the full return

This is exactly why I always tell people to run through multiple calculators AND actually start the filing process on both platforms before making a decision. The estimators are basically marketing tools - they're designed to get you in the door, not give you accurate numbers. A $3000 difference is huge though, definitely suggests one of them is making some major assumptions about your situation that might not be correct. Have you tried the IRS's own withholding calculator? It's not perfect but sometimes gives a better baseline than the commercial ones.

Yeah I've noticed this too with different tax software - the estimators are basically just marketing hooks to get you started. What's really frustrating is they don't tell you upfront what assumptions they're making about your credits and deductions. I'd suggest looking at which specific credits each estimator is including/excluding - that's usually where the big differences come from. Child tax credit, EITC, education credits etc. can swing your refund by thousands depending on how the software interprets your situation.