Refund Shock: local tax preparers say your 2022 refund may be lower

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (KFVS) - Monday, January 23 is the first day the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is accepting 2022 tax returns. Local tax preparers are preparing their clients for “refund shock” because of changes that will affect your refund amount.

”People without children, some of them were getting earned income credit and things like that,” Margaret Poinsett said. “They’re not going to be receiving that this year.”

Poinsett has been doing taxes since 1962. She’s owned a professional tax service in Chaffee since 1981. They have clients all year round, but with tax season underway, she said they are extremely busy.

The child tax credit has changed quite a bit this year. According to the IRS, those who got 36 hundred dollars per dependent in 2021 for the Child Tax Credit will get only $2 thousand for the 2022 tax year.

“Because of the pandemic, remember you used to get the stimulus money, and that’s no longer in effect,” Poinsett said.

Chellnecia Webb at Unlimited Taxes and More in Cape Girardeau said clients are shocked when they see their refund this year versus what they got last year.

Most of the disparity is due to post-covid changes.

“People are like ‘last year, I got double, you know this year what’s going on what are you not doing right’, but you know, it’s just due to the laws,” Webb said.

Unlike last year, there’s no credits available because of the pandemic.

“Especially businesses, so the people who took a hard hit this year would be businesses,” Webb said.

“Your refund will probably be less, but it’s the way the rules are,” Poinsett said.

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