Hello Knowledgeable Tax People,

If the tax credits I qualify for are larger than the amount of taxes I owe, will my refund be greater than the amount of taxes that were withheld?

I just used a tool on the turbo tax website called TaxCaster to determine if I would actually get 30% of a $4,500 energy efficient home improvement back (See attached Screen Shot). Based on my income, TaxCaster says I will owe about $3,721, which seems about right. With three children and a $1,350 (30% of $4,500) energy efficient home improvement credit, I qualify for $5,150 in tax credits. $3,721-$5,150 = -$1,429 owed. Because I have withheld about $3,000, TaxCaster says my refund will be the $3,000 withheld plus the $1,429 difference between the tax credits and taxes owed for a total of $4,429. Is this correct? Can my refund be more than the taxes withheld?

More than likely, the extra refund is due to the Child Tax Credit and the "additional" Child Tax Credit, bith of which are "refundable" credits, meaning that you can get the refund for the Child Tax Credit even if you owe no taxes at all.