IRS says I paid too much; do I just accept that?

Neither of the above. The change may have nothing to do with your brand of tax software, so why would you automatically want to switch? And while you don't have to understand the error, I'm sure the IRS sent you a letter of some kind to explain the new amount. Some letters are easier to understand than others, but that is where the explanation would lie.

See

Also, you could probably visit an H&R Block office that is open at this time of year and get them to give you a quick once-over of the situation for free (with the hope you will convert from an online to office client).

Incidentally, if the amount is more than a few hundred dollars (or whatever you consider a large amount), and there is any chance that you really aren't entitled to the refund (i.e. the IRS is making an error), it is safer to hang on to the check and not cash it, in case you owe the money back.

You don't have to find the error, but it would be nice to in order to know if H&R is buggy. It might not be. Perhaps you made estimated payments and forgot to enter them? Perhaps you received a 1099-DIV and forget to enter the Qualified Dividends (thus making all dividends subject to the highest tax rate).

AtHome. I went over it and don't find any entry errors, though I haven't manually done all the calculations.

obligation to find the error?

In another week or so you should receive a letter from the IRS documenting the areas of difference between what you submitted and what they calculated. Then you'll know whether your software contributed to the problem or not. (I'm betting on user error, not software issues.)

Ira Smilovitz

AtHome. I went over it and don't find any entry errors, though I haven't manually done all the calculations.

obligation to find the error?

Sorry if I didn't go into enough detail. I got a letter,separate from the check, saying:

"We believe there's a miscalculation on your 2012 Form 1040, which affects the following area of your return:

• Tax Computation We made changes to your return that correct the error. As a result you are due a refund of ,043.00"

I think this is all I am going to get from them as an explanation.

H&R AtHome. I went over it and don't find any entry errors, though I haven't manually done all the calculations.

obligation to find the error?

check, saying:

following area of your return:

due a refund of $2,043.00"

Does the letter type (CP-xxxx) match any of the descriptions in the IRS link I provided previously? The letter should have a phone number on it.

If it is truly just a "tax computation" error (meaning, your taxable income was correct, but you calculated the wrong tax), I'm thinking it could be you used the wrong tax table for your filing status, or something similar? Usually the IRS will not automatically compute long-term capital gains or qualified dividend rates for you, so I don't think it's that.

You can either start sharing with us some of the dollar amounts and line numbers from page 2 of your Form 1040, or try leveraging your status as an H&R Block customer to get some free advice at one of their year-round offices, otherwise we're all just guessing.