Can I take the standard deduction for federal and itemize maryland state for 2018?

[jody_ken]

Can I take the standard deduction for federal and itemize Maryland state for 2018?  It appears that it will more advantageous overall if I take the standard federal deduction but itemize my Maryland state return. 

[MichaelL1 · Accepted solution]

You have to be consistent for Maryland (itemized both Federal and State) or (standard deduction for both).

"The federal tax reform of 2017 significantly raised the federal standard deduction. Under current Maryland law, if you take the standard deduction the federal level, you cannot itemize at the Maryland level. You may take the federal standard deduction, while this may reduce your federal tax liability, it may result in an increase to your Maryland income tax liability. The Comptroller’s Office encourages you to run your income tax returns under both deduction methods, and to compare the results of taking the standard deduction versus itemizing yours deductions, to see which method causes the lowest overall tax liability."

paragraph above from the State of Maryland web site.  https://taxes.marylandtaxes.gov/Individual_Taxes/General_Information/What_s_New_for_the_Tax_Filing_S...

[jody_ken]

Thank you for your quick and thorough response.  It is very much appreciated.

[tubers001]

I think this is really irresponsible on TurboTax, IMO.  The software should automatically check to see if you are better off sticking with itemized versus standardized deductions accounting also for users who download the state income tax forms.  Should be an incredibly simple check for the software to do.  I was fortunate to have varied the options just to see what would have happened, and it actually saved me $1400 !!! in state tax liability by forcing it back to itemized deductions, even though that increased my federal amount owed.   Good think I tried it on my own - does your software guarantee the best return for the customer?

[MichaelL1]

I am not sure how much programing this would be.  You would have to complete 4 different returns and then compare the totals to compute this correctly.  Not an easy task and to do that number of returns they would be in separate accounts at the same time. This is the same concept as doing Married Filing Separate and Married Filing Joint for all customers.
Thank you for your thoughts, and I have recommended as Maryland has recommended you do it both ways.

[Spin2]

Sorry, that information is incorrect.   I refer you to the 2020 Maryland instructions #14 Itemized Deductions.  Paragraph 2 clearly states that "You are not required to itemize deductions on your Maryland return because you have itemized deductions on your federal return.  Figure your tax each way to determine which method is best for you."

[dmertz]

The original question was, "Can I take the standard deduction for federal and itemize Maryland state for 2018?"  The answer is No.  However, the original answer given to this question is incorrect in implying that you cannot take the standard deduction on your Maryland tax return if you itemize on the federal tax return.

To be eligible to itemize deductions on a Maryland tax return you must itemize deductions on your federal tax return.  However, if you itemize deductions on your federal tax return you have the option to either itemize or take the standard deduction on your Maryland tax return.  Maryland itemized deductions are calculated by beginning with federal itemized deductions and subtracting out the deduction for state and local taxes, so there is no way to calculate Maryland itemized deductions by beginning with the federal standard deduction.