The federal government and CA have different tax rules. It is very possible that for your federal deduction you would be better off taking the standard deduction and then itemizing for CA. CA does allow you to take the itemized deductions even if you claim the standard deduction on your federal return.
The biggest reason you may be able to claim the itemized deductions for CA but not federal is because the standard deduction for CA is $5,540 for a single person which is less than half that of the federal standard deduction which is $14,600 for a single person. Also CA allows home interest deductions up to $1,000,000 where as the IRS only allows the home interest deduction up to $750,000.
So after you do your federal, you can go back to your state return and TurboTax will give you the itemized deduction on the state if it turns out that it is better.
One thing to remember with medical expenses for both CA and the IRS is that they are only deductible for the amount that is over 7.5% of your AGI. This means if your AGI is $100,000, you can only deduct the medical expenses that are greater than $7,500.
**Say "Thanks" by clicking the thumb icon in a post
**Mark the post that answers your question by clicking on "Mark as Best Answer"
