Estimating your 2021 tax refund is easy. Simply answer the questions in each section of the TaxAct Tax Calculator based on your expectations for the entire year to get a tax return estimate. Don’t worry about being exact – just do the best you can. You always have the option to go back and get a new tax refund estimate, especially if your tax situation significantly changes. In the upper right corner of the screen, you can quickly watch how the information you enter influences your tax outcome as you answer the questions. You can also view your total income, adjustments, deductions and other information in the tax summary. Let’s say you’ve run the tax refund estimator and ended with a lower tax refund or higher tax bill than what you had hoped. You can try different scenario to see how you may be able to improve your situation. For example, see what happens if you increase charitable contributions or plug in energy-saving improvements to your home. If your income is liable to change, consider estimating your taxes with higher and lower numbers to determine how the varying figures affect the amount of tax you might owe. Remember, the Tax Calculator is a quick tool to help plan your tax year and ensure you’re accounting for the right amount of income tax. It’s important to use the calculator whenever your tax situation changes or as you become more confident in your estimated amounts. If your tax situation is more complex, you may need to make adjustments for other factors as well. The more often you use this tool as a tax return estimator, the better you can plan ahead and stay in control of your taxes. As tax laws shift throughout the year, TaxAct’s Tax Calculator is updated to reflect those changes.These updates allow you peace of mind when using the results to estimate your tax return and help determine what potential adjustments need to be made to receive your best possible tax outcome.