Help! I don't know what to enter for Locality Group (1,2 or 3) This was flagged by Turbotax on a review of my state sales tax deduction.

[taxquery1]

Obvi, I know what city I live in, but this is not an option.

[KathrynG3]

It depends on what state you live in. This IRS Sales Tax Deduction Calculator should help. 

Please reply here and include your state of residence if you need more specific help.

@taxquery1

[mduffin]

I also have this problem.  The IRS sales tax deduction calculator gave the tax amount, but not the locality group number. I live in Illinois.

[AmyC]

For the Turbo Tax program, you just need to enter the total percent you pay each time you go to the store.

IL state tax is 6.25%, add your local tax and put that in the program. You can google your local tax or ask a merchant.

[haseldean]

This does not answer the question- That I also have-

You have to check one of the groups 1,2,3

For your locality ? but no where does it say what the difference is between the 3 groups for locality tax

[KathrynG3]

Locally Imposed Sales Taxes Administered by the Department of Revenue

Includes a listing of all Municipalities. 

Additional tax rates that are combined with the state rate:
Actual tax rates throughout the state vary because, in addition to state taxes, the local taxing bodies listed below have imposed other taxes that are administered by the state.
The rates for each unit of local government found on the Tax Rate Database are combined rates that include the state rate and may include rates for one or more of the following local taxing bodies:
Local rate: Municipalities That Impose Home Rule, Non-Home Rule, or Business District Tax
Imposed by ordinance at the local level and administered by the state
*General merchandise: Imposed in increments of 0.25 percent with no maximum rate limit for the home rule tax,
*and a 1 percent limit for the non-home rule tax (except for those covered by 65 ILCS 5/8-11-1.6 and 5/8-11-1.7) and
*the business district tax Titled or registered items: Does not apply
Qualifying food, drugs, and medical appliances: Does not apply

[chardt]

KathrynG3...you still have not answered the question!!!  The Turbo Tax program IS requiring that we Illinois residents must choose a Locality Group (1,2 or 3)  to fix the error flag.  BUT there is no explanation of how we are supposed to know or find out what locality group we live in!!  We have already entered our location as Illinois for the whole year, yet the program is still error flagging and requiring we check a box for which Locality Group we belong to.  We have no clue where to find out what "Locality Group" we need to choose to fix the error flag.

[KMH-St Charles IL]

I am having the same issue. Sales tax calculates - IL resident year round.  How do we determine what "Locality Group" we are in?  1,2  or 3???

[DMarkM1]

It appears Locality group 1 is "All cities" and the other two are "not applicable". So when the error pops on "Smart Check", click "Locality Group 1" at the top (not on the form itself).  

[Mjakubow]

Have the same issue.  My locality groups are different from the previous reply.  Group 1 lists several cities “Aurora, Elgin, Waukegan,...”.  Group 2 is “Any other locality that imposes a local sales tax”.  Group 3 is Not Applicable.  I can choose Group 2 and my sales tax deduction goes up.  Why?  I already provided a total sales tax rate of 10.25% for Illinois (Chicago) earlier.

[Mjakubow]

For what it's worth...I used the IRS sales tax calculator and it came up with a sales tax deduction of $1038.  If I choose Locality Group 2 (by clicking on the radio button "b" in the scrollable window), TT does come up with the same $1038 value.  So, I'm good.   I still find the "locality group" page in TT to be confusing.  It's almost like it has ignored the fact that I provided the 10.25% Chicago sales tax rate earlier.  Only when I chose Group 2 ("b") does it add the additional 4% local Chicago tax rate (because it knows my ZIP code) to the 6.25% Illinois base sales tax.   This page need a better Help description to explain what it does, and why each Locality Group choice should be made. 

[dennytur]

the sales tax calculator does not tell me what locality group to put down

[charjean47]

Same here.  I live in Illinois.

[charjean47]

I am not experience when it comes to doing taxes.  I ran into the same issue:  Program flags the fact that I did not check the Locality Group because I did not know if it was 1, 2 or 3.

When I was at that site/page, I click on forms at the left upper corner.  This is what I found:  I needed to check a, b or c.

From this, I gathered that Locality Group 1 is Aurora, Elgin, Waukegan.  I don’t live here.

Locality Group 2 is Any other locality that imposes a local sales tax.

Locality Group 3 is not applicable.

I live in Illinois and choose Locality Group for the above explanations.  Check the form out and see for yourself.  Go to Forms.  Find the red explanation mark by Locality Wks.  When I put an X in 2b (Any other locality that imposes a local sales tax, my problem went away).

I also did what KathrynG above said; use the IRS Sales Tax Deduction Calculator.  I click on her link.  It calculated a figure and that figure is now the same figure that the Turbo Tax program came up with.

[aubrie-meyer]

When you are in Smart Check, "Check This Entry", click on the "Forms" icon at the top function bar. This will flip you over to the actual tax form. That is where it states locality as 2) a, b, or c.

Turbo tax needs to fix this!