Itemizing deductions

Forum|Forum|3 years ago
April 9, 2023
1 reply
5 views

Why is turbtax saying I should use the standard deduction when my itemized deductions are double the amount? My taxable income is zero.

JohnB5677

Level 15

If your taxable income is zero with the standard deduction, it really doesn't matter what your itemized deductions are. Once your taxable income is down to zero, it will not go any lower.

However, you should also realize that there are limitations on many of the itemized deductions. For example

Medical: you can only deduct unreimbursed medical expenses that exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income (AGI), found on line 11 of your 2022 Form 1040.
Mortgage Interest: the loan limit is $750,000. That means for the 2022 tax year you could only deduct the interest on mortgages up to $750,000.
State and property tax deduction: Taxpayers can't deduct more than $10,000 in state and local levies on their federal returns.
Charitable deductions: Your deduction for charitable contributions generally can't be more than 60% of your AGI, but in some cases 20%, 30%, or 50% limits may apply.

These are just the most common limitations, in addition, many formerly deductible expenses no longer qualify.

If I've misunderstood your question, and this does not completely answer it, please contact us again and provide some additional details.

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lrose2Author

Level 2

The issue is that my itemized deductions reduce my taxable income to zero while the standard deduction does NOT, yet TurboTax says to use the standard deduction. It also says I owe $1,140 in federal taxes which doesn’t make sense if my taxable income is zero. It claims I owe the same amount regardless of which deduction I use. This does not seem right.