1. The deduction may flow through to your state tax return, which is why the program section is still enabled, but the deduction was eliminated for federal tax returns.
3. you can deduct sales tax or state income tax but not both. And either way, your total itemized deductions must be more than the standard deduction before you will get any benefit. TurboTax will ask you if you are using the sales tax deduction, do you want to use the standard method or your actual expenses. If you use the standard method, the IRS will assign you a certain sales tax deduction based on your income and the sales tax rate in your locality. You are allowed to add to that standard amount, the specific amount of sales tax you paid for a motor vehicle, an airplane, or a substantial renovation to your home. TurboTax should ask you for those items and that is where you would enter the taxes paid for materials. However, note that in some states, materials purchased by a contractor for installation in a home are tax exempt. You will need to have proof that you actually paid sales tax on these materials if audited, and not merely assume that a portion of a contractors bill includes sales tax.
