@rjs Responding to myself here. ***I UNDERSTAND NOW*** that state/local income tax is not deductible. The IT-196 form and instructions are EXTREMELY misleading in its organization. Effectively a taxpayer lists state/local tax in line 5 (if not opting for general sales tax), **AND THEN SUBTRACTS IT OFF*** during calculation of line 41 which subtracts from the deduction. It's incredibly silly.
Thank you
@rjs for your help and good points.
