Can Turbotax itemize total tax owed. In Georgia it can be better to itemize Federal and pay more to itemize in Georgia and pay much less. Turbotax cannot do this. Why?

[KatrinaB]

If you want to itemize deductions on the Georgia state return you must also itemize deductions on your federal return. If TurboTax is recommending the standard deduction and you want to claim your itemized deductions, you can switch to itemized deductions.

Follow the directions in the TurboTax FAQ below if you wish to switch to itemized deductions on your federal return so that you can claim them on your Georgia return.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/replies/3300919 

[jemdad99a]

I submitted this question and appreciate your answer. However I think the 'feature' of TurboTax as explained here is a bug that needs to be fixed. Specifically, I buy TurboTax to minimize total income taxes paid, not necessarily to minimize federal income taxes paid. I ran my numbers. By itemizing with $22,500 in deductions, I pay $360 more in federal income tax and $954 less in state (GA) income tax. I'll pay $360 to save $954 every time and think 99.9% of people would do the same which is why TurboTax should minimize total tax, not federal tax, by default.  Make sense?

[KatrinaB]

Thank you for the suggestion. I'll pass it on.

[Anonymous]

@KatrinaB 

This is still a flaw in the 2019 tax year software. The flaw resulted in $600 lower tax return for me in 2018; in the process of figuring out the error in 2019 (already filed before finding out about this).  Seems like this would qualify people for a refund of the software fee under the maximum return guarantee policy.