Can I use the standard deduction in the Federal tax as a deduction in the Maryland State tax?

[bobel]

It appears that the Maryland state tax will reward you if you itemize  the Federal tax, because the itemized data will transfer to the Maryland.  With the increased standard deduction in the Federal tax, this seems unfair.  Am I mis-interperting the Maryland tax?

[JohnW15 · Accepted solution]

I don't think you're misinterpreting anything.  This is just how the federal and Maryland laws in this area are set up.  Unfortunately, you can't use the Federal Standard Deduction as a deduction on your Maryland state tax return.

If you itemize on your federal return, the itemized federal amount can be used on your Maryland return, at least to a degree -- certain items of federal itemized deductions aren't eligible for state purposes.  Please see "Itemized Deductions" on page 11 of 2018STATE & LOCAL TAX FORMS & INSTRUCTIONS for more information.

However, you aren't required to itemize deductions on your Maryland return just because you itemized deductions on your federal return.  You can figure your taxes each way to see which method gives you the bigger tax benefit.

And if you claim the standard deduction on their Federal return, you must claim a standard deduction (the Maryland standard deduction, not the federal) on your Maryland return.

[adowdell50]

Stealth taxes in MD due to new standard deductions on Federal forms. TurboTax did NOT tell me that I would save over $1100 in taxes if I used itemized deductions on my Federal forms. Using the new standard deduction my Federal tax was $200 lower, but my MD state taxes were $1300 higher. This should have been calculated by the program. Good thing I decided to check it both ways.