OK I still haven't paid so I can't quite work out the detail, but I see my federal credits are higher if I take the itemized deduction by about $3,600. Not sure what the higher credit is? But that would explain it, since $3,600 in credit is like a $15K deduction at 24% bracket. So it sort of makes sense with the credit factored in? I just don't see which credits require me to itemize. I'll try to sort it out after I file and report back.
