If standard deduction gets us 100% of our withheld income tax payment refunded why continue the itemized deductions questions?

[hillside1949]

Schedule A does not give me a larger refund as I would pay zero in taxes using standard deduction.

[Anita01 · Accepted solution]

Itemized deductions cannot decrease your taxable income beyond zero, so from that point of view, there is no reason to continue with additional deductions.  Before you stop, though, you would want to be very certain that you have entered all forms of your income.  If there is any chance your itemized deductions may exceed your standard, you might need those extra deductions as your income increases.

There are also states that allow individual itemized deductions, such as medical expenses, even if you don't  itemize on the federal return.  Those amounts do need to be entered in the Federal return though so that they transfer to the state.   In some states, the standard deduction is much lower then the Federal, so you could possibly benefit from itemizing in the state even if not in the Federal.  Again, those expenses are entered in the Federal program.