I submitted this question and appreciate your answer. However I think the 'feature' of TurboTax as explained here is a bug that needs to be fixed. Specifically, I buy TurboTax to minimize total income taxes paid, not necessarily to minimize federal income taxes paid. I ran my numbers. By itemizing with $22,500 in deductions, I pay $360 more in federal income tax and $954 less in state (GA) income tax. I'll pay $360 to save $954 every time and think 99.9% of people would do the same which is why TurboTax should minimize total tax, not federal tax, by default. Make sense?
