Tax Refund Estimator For 2009

Question: Tax question, please help!?

Last year when we filed my fiance’s taxes, he was only working for 6 months at the job he is at now & he got a little over $4,000 back. We just started the filing process through TurboTax last night & the refund came to a little over $3,000! How is this possible?! If he only worked 6 months out of the year in 2008, but worked the full year in 2009, why are we getting back so little this time? Shouldnt we be getting more than that? We are super bummed, I even tried the tax estimator through H&R block online & said the same =[. Can someone please explain to me as to why we arent getting back as much (or more) than we did last year?! TIA!
i havent read all the answers yet but i should have added this: we have a baby together, who was born in 08.

Answer: Okay you should know it depends on the amount of money he made not how long he worked. A lot of credits phase up and down depending on the amount you make so its hard to say without more info

How to Estimate Your Tax Refund – TaxCaster by TurboTax