Sales Tax for Major Purchase

[KayDub]

I am using the Easy Guide for sales tax and have also entered the sales tax for 2 major purchase items for 2023.  My refund amount does not change at all for the taxes paid for these 2 major purchases.   Why is this? 

[rjs]

You can deduct either sales tax or state and local income tax. TurboTax will automatically use whichever one is higher. It might be that, even with the two major purchases, your state and local income tax is more than your sales tax, so you are getting the deduction for state and local income tax. Increasing your sales tax won't change your refund unless the sales tax becomes higher than the state and local income tax.

Furthermore, the deduction for sales tax or state and local income tax is an itemized deduction. It will not change your refund unless your total itemized deductions are more than your standard deduction. If you have not yet entered all of your itemized deductions, your refund might change after you enter the rest of your itemized deductions, if they make the total itemized deductions more than your standard deduction.

Since you are using the CD/Download desktop TurboTax software you can look at Schedule A in forms mode to see your itemized deductions.

[KayDub]

Thank you for the response.  I don't have a state income tax and I am itemizing so unfortunately it's neither of those.  

[rjs]

It's hard to figure out what's happening without being able to see your tax return. (But don't post your return. This is a public web site that anyone can view.) Here are a couple of other possibilities. I should have thought of the first one before.

For 2018 through 2025, the total deduction for state and local taxes is limited to a maximum of $10,000 per year ($5,000 if you are married filing separately). The maximum applies to the total of real estate tax, personal property tax, and either state and local income tax or state and local sales tax. You might have hit this limit. If Schedule A line 5e is $10,000 ($5,000 if MFS) you have hit the limit, so no amount of additional sales tax or any other state or local tax is going to change your refund.

One other possibility is that you are already getting a refund of all the tax that was withheld, so there is nothing more to be refunded. Except for certain "refundable credits," you can't get a refund of more than you paid in.

You say "I am itemizing." Are you sure about that? Did TurboTax tell you that you are getting itemized deductions? Sometimes people think they are itemizing because they are entering itemized deductions, but their itemized deductions add up to less than their standard deduction, so they get the standard deduction. Only about 10% of taxpayers have itemized deductions higher than their standard deduction.

[KayDub]

Excellent information!  Thank you!