A lot of people are not happy with their refunds. But its time to find out if you really got a tax increase or a tax cut:
1. Complete you 2018 return. Make a copy to do a 2018 test return.
2. If you have one time only deductions on the return (like disaster losses or unusual medical bills) eliminate them from your test return.
3. Recalculate the line for “Amount You Owe”.
3. Using last year’s return (or prepare a new return feature on tax software), change the income figures to what you received this year.
4. Remove any one time only deductions.
5. Enter this years total figures for deductions that change yearly (such as mortgage interest, regular medical bills) without any caps added by the new tax law but using any caps that would have applied in 2017.
6. Calculate the “Amount you owe” on the test return.
7. Compare the two amounts.
This tells you the amount you gained or lost (regardless of refund amount or increase in weekly checks).
(One note-at least according to the software I use, the purchase money mortgage insurance deduction from 2017 has not been finalized for 2018, so you may have another deduction coming in a few months.)
Good luck.