How to Override Standard Deduction

[bgarbarino]

My 2024 Federal itemized deductions total $31,418 vs the standard deduction of $32,300.  HOWEVER, the standard deduction for my state is only $5,450.  If I file the Fed return using the standard deduction, I'm required to use the standard deduction for my state return.  THAT WILL COST ME AN ADDITIONAL $4,000 IN STATE TAXES!!  How do I override the standard deduction on the Federal form and revert back to the itemized deduction?

[MindyB]

According to How do I change from the standard deduction to itemized (or vice-versa), here is how to change from the standard deduction to itemized deductions:

1. "Go to the screen: Based on what you told us, [either Standard Deduction or Itemizing deductions] is right for you, and select Change my deduction.
2. On the Which deduction do you want to take this year? popup, you'll see the dollar value of each deduction type.
3. Select the type of deduction you want and select Continue twice."

In lieu of using the link in step 1, you can also navigate to Federal > Deductions & Credits and then continue through all the interview pages, and at the end you will arrive at the same screen, where it says which is right for you and there is an option to change it.

[bgarbarino]

Thank you for your reply.  My issue (which I didn't adequately explain in my question) is that I had already completed my Fed return using the SD and had moved on to the state return....which meant I had moved past the screen that gave me the option to change from the FED SD to itemized deductions.  When I realized that the huge increase in state taxes over the previous year was due to the using the SD, I tried to change the Fed option but could find no way to do that.  So I bit the bullet and paid for help from a live agent.  She was absolutely fantastic!  It still took over an hour on the phone for us to get to where I needed to be to change the Fed deduction.  But it was well worth the time and extra $$ for what it saved me in state taxes!  What I have learned over the years of using TurboTax is that it's very difficult, if not impossible, to change options once they've been selected without starting the return all over again.  TurboTax techy programming people....you need to do better!