state tax refund - J1 Visa

[ALTN 1]

I worked as an intern for about 12 months during 2013 under a J-1 visa, and I'm dealing with a company called taxback.com to get my tax refund. I recently got an email from them telling that they received my state refund for 2013 with the value of $237 which after deduction becomes $121.

That sounded very few so I contacted a friend who used be my coworker, he actually was part of the same internship program. I tried to investigate how much was his refund, and he answered $550 just as a state tax refund, let alone the federal refund! ... what's even more confusing is that my friend worked only for 7 months during 2013. We both have the exact same salary, the only difference is that I worked longer (12 months in my case).

I contacted taxback.com to ask for an explanation, and they answered the more you get as annual income the less you get back from your taxes... that's the general rule they said.

This sounded very unfair to me, and did not convince me, which is the reason I'm asking my question here.

Anybody can confirm or deny their explanation? (I can provide my W-2 if needed)

Your help would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

[aaron2020 11,651]

No one can give you an answer without doing your taxes.

If you feel you were cheated, then you need to get someone to review your tax return.

[ALTN 1]

Thanks for the answer aaron.

Can you refer to anyone whom I can consult remotely? I'm currently in my home country Tunisia.

[aaron2020 11,651]

You need to find someone who does taxes in the state where you filed your tax return. Your situation is state specific.

You do realize that it cost your several hundreds for someone to review and redo your taxes right?

If your taxes were done wrong, then you probably have an arbitration clause in your contact with tax back.com.

In the end you will spend more money to recover a small amount of money.

Chalk this up as a lesson learned. Get reliable help - H&R Block, Jackson Hewitt, etc. don't go with a small no name outfit.

[ALTN 1]

taxback.com was referred to me by AIESEC my sponsor; having absolutely no experience with US taxes, I just dealt with them. They actually have a decent website and looked kind of professional.

That said, I don't really intend to hire anybody and redo my taxes, I'm just asking whether there's a chance their explanation (or rather their pretext) would be legit? just so I know whether they're really cheating, and if so I'll then be able to re-contact them and claim my issue with solid arguments.