Hello, how do I know if I should take a federal itemized deduction or a standard deduction? It is recommending Itemized

[CherylW]

How much you have in deductions affects the recommendation coming up.  You should try to itemize, especially If you own a house or have high medical expenses. 

In Deductions & Credits in Turbo Tax, go through all the categories to see if you can get more than what the government gives you for your filing status.  See the chart below. 

Here's a list of all the deductions that you can use to try to get higher than the standard deduction.