To see if my 2017 Refunds are taxable, TT is asking me to enter some info from my 2017 federal return. Should it not check that information directly from its record?

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No you have to enter it yourself. Someone might not have used Turbo Tax last year or even if they filled out a return they might have filed somewhere else. Or used the Desktop program, etc.

Did you Itemize Deductions last year? A State Tax Refund is taxable if you itemized deductions on that prior year's federal return and took a deduction for state income taxes instead of the sale tax. You got a deduction benefit for it so now you have to include it as income. If you took the standard deduction or filed a 1040EZ or 1040A it is not taxable and you don't need to report it.