Why did my refund change after I added my partner?

It is very common for your refund or balance to change when you add your partner's income.

Why does it change?

Many of your own tax credits are based on your net family income, and others are based on your partner's net income. As your partner's net income changes, your entitlement to this type of tax credit (or its value) may change.

At Better Tax, we try to wait until you have either reported your partner's income (or you've confirmed they have no income) to add some of the more valuable credits to your return. Our algorithm isn't perfect—for example if you add even a little bit of income to your partner's profile through a shared slip the app sees that they have income and will add them.

When you add your partner's income, it also might change who is the higher-income person in your family. Some credits, like childcare, must be claimed by a particular partner based on income. On top of that, our optimizer will often default other credits to someone based on net income before it runs.

A handy rule of thumb

The refund or balance you see as you prepare your return reflects the information Better Tax has at the time. These amounts are just for fun until both tax returns are complete.