Quote Originally Posted by lovbyts View Post
Its called creative accounting. You have to make sure to take every deduction available by law.
it's even more basic than that. two aspects:

1) Payroll tax withholding - has no impact on your total tax liability for the year. You control via W4 and your state form equivalent.
2) Income tax liability - a little tax planning (something turbo tax is incapable of) can help minimize your tax liability. But you start at the beginning of the tax year, not at the end.

Each item is independent of the other. If you want more back at the end of the year, increase your withholding.

A good CPA should be able to provide a basic tax plan for the subsequent year.