Hawaii form N-11, Line 23, calls for a standard deduction value that is a function of the filing status you selected at the beginning. TurboTax asks for the filing status, we picked MFJ. From this it should put $4,400 in Line 23. It left Line 23 blank in our return/e-filing. In our case, it didn't matter since the next line calls for subtracting either Line 22 (allowable itemized deductions) or Line 23 (standard deduction), whichever applies, from Line 20 (Hawaii AGI), and, in our case, Line 22 applied, and Line 23 didn't.
The Hawaii Department of Taxation, however, seems to think Line 23 should be filled out whether it matters or not. They sent us a letter complaining about two errors, the first of which was that Line 23 was $0 as filed (looks blank on what I can see) but was adjusted to $4,400. I'm sure that this is the last Hi DoTax cares about that specific issue, but they cared enough to flag it to us. (The other error was mine but, hopefully, does not require an amended return to fix. It took me a while to figure out that these two issues were entirely unrelated.)
TT never asked me, discretely, what to put in Line 23. But it had all the information it needed to complete the return from how it checked Box 2 based on what I told them about our filing status. And Box 2 is checked.
I spoke to somebody in TurboTax support, and they couldn't have cared less and said that TT doesn't fill out my taxes, I do, so I must not have told them what to put in Line 23. (But nowhere does TT, discretely, ask for what to put in Line 23. It doesn't need to, since Line 23 is entirely derivative from other data I did put in.) The person at TT took the position that I should have printed the return before filing, and spotted this blank, and known HI DoTax wouldn't like it blank, and gone back in and found the question where they asked what to put in Line 23 and entered $4,400.
Am I nuts, or shouldn't somebody, anybody, at TT care about this and address it so that they don't leave Hawaii N-11 Line 23 blank, even if it doesn't matter? If so, how can I reach that person at TT, when the support people take the position that TT doesn't fill out your forms, the user does, so this can't possibly be a TT problem.
