How to Get a Bigger Tax Refund: Step-By-Step Guide (July 2026)

Last Updated: July 2026

By Marcus Hale — 14 years self-educating in personal finance, former bank loan officer, Denver Colorado

The Short Answer

Getting a bigger tax refund typically comes down to one thing most people skip: making sure you’ve claimed every deduction and credit you actually qualify for. The IRS isn’t going to hunt those down for you — that’s your job, or your tax preparer’s job. Start by understanding the difference between deductions (which reduce your taxable income) and credits (which reduce your actual tax bill dollar-for-dollar), because credits are generally the more powerful of the two. If you’re not sure where to start, a good tax filing platform can walk you through both.

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Who This Helps ✅

  • ✅ W-2 employees who file their own taxes and suspect they’re leaving money on the table
  • ✅ Families with children, education expenses, or childcare costs who may qualify for credits they’re not claiming
  • ✅ People who’ve had major life changes — marriage, divorce, a new baby, a job loss — that affect their tax situation
  • ✅ Anyone who took the standard deduction last year without checking whether itemizing might have been more beneficial

Who Should Skip This Guide ❌

  • ❌ High-income earners or business owners with complex tax situations — you need a CPA or enrolled agent, not a general guide
  • ❌ People with significant investment income, rental properties, or self-employment — your situation has enough moving parts that general tips may not apply and could be misleading
  • ❌ Anyone facing an IRS audit or back tax issues — stop reading guides and hire a tax professional immediately
  • ❌ People looking for a “hack” that skirts IRS rules — nothing in this guide involves anything aggressive or gray-area; if that’s what you’re after, I can’t help you

Before You Start

Here’s the honest starting point I wish someone had given me in my 20s: a tax refund isn’t free money from the government. It’s your own money coming back because you overpaid throughout the year via withholding. So “getting a bigger refund” really means two things — either you were overwithholding all year (a cash flow problem worth fixing separately), or you weren’t claiming deductions and credits you qualified for (a tax knowledge problem, and the one this guide addresses).

The strategies here are informational in nature and based on what I’ve learned over 14 years of reading tax-related materials and watching people — including plenty of loan applicants at my bank — miss significant credits year after year. Tax law changes frequently. The IRS updates forms, income limits, and credit amounts regularly, so anything specific you read here or anywhere else should be verified directly with the IRS or a qualified tax professional before you file. The IRS website at IRS.gov is always your most authoritative source.

What You’ll Need

Item Purpose Where to Get It
W-2 forms Reports wages and taxes withheld by your employer Your employer — typically mailed or available in your payroll portal by late January
1099 forms (if applicable) Reports freelance income, bank interest, investment income, or other non-W-2 income Your bank, brokerage, or clients who paid you
Records of deductible expenses Needed if you plan to itemize — mortgage interest, charitable donations, medical bills above IRS threshold Personal records, bank statements, receipts
Social Security numbers for dependents Required to claim child tax credit, dependent care credit, and other family-related credits Your records; apply for a Social Security card at SSA.gov if a dependent doesn’t have one
Prior year tax return Helps identify deductions you may have missed and provides AGI for e-filing verification Your files, prior tax software account, or request a transcript from IRS.gov

How the Top Methods Compare

Approach Difficulty Time Required Best For Marcus’s Rating
Using guided tax software Easy 2–4 hours Most W-2 filers who want to catch credits without hiring a pro 4.5/5 — interview-style questions are specifically designed to surface credits many people miss on their own
Itemizing deductions instead of taking the standard deduction Medium 3–6 hours of record-gathering Homeowners, high charitable givers, or people with significant medical expenses 3.5/5 — powerful when it applies, but most filers still come out ahead with the standard deduction post-2017 tax law changes
Maximizing retirement contributions (IRA, 401k) Medium 1–2 hours to set up; ongoing People with earned income who can contribute before the tax deadline 4.0/5 — traditional IRA contributions may reduce taxable income; verify eligibility and deductibility limits with IRS.gov or a tax advisor
Working with a CPA or enrolled agent Hard to find a good one, easy once you do Varies Complex situations, self-employed filers, or anyone who’s missed multiple years of potential credits 4.5/5 — cost is often offset by what they find; rated high because the ROI is real for the right person

What Works Well ✅

  • ✅ Claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) if you qualify. This is one of the most commonly missed credits among lower-to-moderate income filers. The IRS estimates millions of eligible taxpayers don’t claim it every year. Income limits and credit amounts vary by filing status and number of dependents — check IRS.gov for current figures.
  • ✅ Claiming the Child and Dependent Care Credit. If you paid for childcare so you could work, this credit may apply. I’ve seen loan applicants with kids in daycare who had no idea this existed.
  • ✅ Checking your withholding mid-year with the IRS Tax Withholding Estimator. If your life changed — new baby, second job, a spouse who started working — your withholding may be off. Catching it mid-year gives you time to adjust your W-4 before January.
  • ✅ Contributing to a traditional IRA before the tax filing deadline. For many filers, contributions made before the April deadline can reduce taxable income for the prior year. Deductibility depends on your income and whether you have a workplace retirement plan — verify current limits and phase-out thresholds at IRS.gov.
  • ✅ Reviewing education-related credits. The American Opportunity Credit and Lifetime Learning Credit can be significant for families with college-age students or adults taking qualifying courses. Each has different income limits and eligible expense rules.

Common Mistakes ❌

  • ❌ Filing as single when you might qualify for head of household. Head of household status generally means a lower tax rate and a higher standard deduction. Many single parents don’t realize they qualify. The IRS has specific criteria — don’t assume; look it up or let your tax software prompt you.
  • ❌ Forgetting to claim deductions for student loan interest. If you paid interest on qualifying student loans, that interest may be deductible up to IRS limits — even if you don’t itemize. This is an above-the-line deduction, meaning it reduces your adjusted gross income regardless.
  • ❌ Missing carryover items from prior years. Capital loss carryovers, charitable contribution carryovers, and certain business deductions can carry forward from prior years. If you switched tax software or preparers, these sometimes get dropped. Check your prior return.
  • ❌ Waiting until the last minute and rushing through. I watched loan applicants hand me tax returns with obvious errors every spring. Rushed filing leads to missed entries, transposed numbers, and credits left unclaimed. The IRS says e-filing with direct deposit is typically faster and more accurate than paper filing — and slower preparation usually means fewer missed items.

How I Validated This Approach

I pulled from 14 years of reading IRS publications, tax guides, and personal finance literature, combined with what I observed working in banking — where tax returns were documents I reviewed regularly as part of loan underwriting. I’ve cross-referenced these strategies against current IRS guidance, CFPB educational materials, and widely cited personal finance research. This guide covers general educational concepts only and does not account for your specific tax situation. I am not a CPA, enrolled agent, or tax attorney. Rates, income limits, and credit amounts change annually — always verify current figures directly with the IRS at IRS.gov or with a qualified tax professional before filing.

Marcus’s Verdict

If you’re a straightforward W-2 filer — maybe a couple with kids, a few deductible expenses, and no business income — there’s a reasonable chance you’re leaving money on the table simply because nobody ever walked you through what you qualify for. Good tax software with an interview-style interface is generally the most practical starting point for this group, because it asks the questions that surface credits most people wouldn’t think to look for on their own. That was true for my own household when we first started using it.

If your situation is more complicated — self-employment, significant investments, multiple states, or years where you may have filed incorrectly — consider spending the money on a CPA or enrolled agent. The cost is often offset by what they find. Either way, the single most useful thing you can do right now is gather last year’s return, compare it against your current situation, and ask: has anything changed that might change what I qualify for? That question has been worth money to a lot of people I know.

File Your Taxes with TurboTax →

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