Has there been a change to Property Taxes as part of Itemized Deductions? I can enter 10K or 15K and it does not change my refund amount. Very Surprised.

[Lisa995]

If you've already taken your taxable income to zero, it cant go any lower, so your refund wouldn't change.  You really need to look at the tax form itself and follow the money to see how the math works out.

[khennek]

If you are referring to your 2018 taxes, the answer is yes.  The Federal government capped Property tax plus state tax at $10,000.  If the sum of the two is greater than $10,000, that portion above $10,000 will not change the tax you owe.  Anything over $10,000 is unfortunately a loss from your pocket that you will not be able to take advantage of.  It hurts high income people and those that have high property taxes.  As an example if your property tax is $8,000 for the year, and your state tax is $10,000, you can only claim both, but turbo tax does the math for you and if you look at the schedule A form you will see it automatically calculated $10,000 no mater what you entered and the rest is an unclaimed loss.

[Lisa995]

@khennek  you've added onto an old post from 2016 tax year, but your information is correct for 2018

[jerry2000 · Accepted solution]

That can also be an indication that your income is high enough that you are subject to the Alternative Minimum Tax. When you are subject to the AMT, many ordinary deductions such as property tax don't work any more. They reduce your ordinary income tax, but are added back to your AMT income and there is no net change in tax. Once you are subject to the AMT, there is no way around it.

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f6251.pdf

[robinson582]

Hi Jerry, thank you very much.  When I changed my interest deduction amount (hypothetically, of course) then my refund amount changed.   Does that make sense if I am subject to AMT?  (I have to read the pdf you attached, thank you)