Are tax refund and tax return the same thing?

Income tax refund goes somewhere?

• We filed our 2008 income tax return last year and we were able to claim our 3 kids. We were able to get about 4K, and we need all the refunds we can get that time since I dont have a stable job till the end of the year of 2008. This year, for our 2009 return, we tried using H&R to file our returns (which we also used last year), unfortunately, since we bought a house last year, and I was able to get a 2nd job, H&R seems to give us just $700 federal refund and $300 state due. My wife and I are wondering where the $3000 child credit went to? We used to have about $45000 annual income before I got the 2nd job, and then it rose to $55000 after I got it. My 2nd job, which is a government job, did not deduct any federal nor state tax, which is again, I assumed to be because of the make work pay thingie. I also started that job in the middle of the 2009. Does my 2nd job caused us to lose that $3000 credit for our 3 kids? Did our house caused it to go somewhere just cause we qualified for the $8000 credit? I mean $700 of refund is, well, ok, at least we are getting something back, but we also have a state tax due of almost $300. My wife and I do not understand. We tried turbotax too, but it says the same thing. We went to several tax preparers and we were disgusted with the way they charge and some, with the way they treated us, so I went to this forum to hopefully clear things up, I mean at least have some kind of explanation. Thanks in advance of answering. If some of you who are tax return savvy need more info, Id gladly provide it just to have some kind of answer. Just dont ask our social...hehehe

• Answer:

  The $1000 per child tax credit does not mean that you automatically get a $1000 refund per child. It reduces your tax liability first. Without knowing the details of your return, it is impossible to tell you more but if the same answer showed up two times, it must be correct. My guess is that not having any taxes withheld on the second job made the biggest difference.