Do I have to enter Mortgage and property tax information?

[xmasbaby0]

If you want to skip entering your itemized deductions you can do that.  Many people will not have enough itemized deductions this year to itemize, and will just be getting their new higher standard deduction.  The thing is, though, that some of those deductions could make a difference on a state return even if they do not affect your federal return.  Information flows from your federal return to your state return, so it might not be a bad idea to go ahead and enter them anyhow.  It cannot hurt you.

The following states allow you to itemize deductions on just the state return: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, and Wisconsin, 

[BillM223]

Many taxpayers wonder if they need to, if they know that their Itemized Deductions will not be greater than the Standard Deduction.

However, a number of state have different itemized deduction and standard deduction limits than the federal return so the taxpayer MAY be able to use the mortgage interest and the property tax information on their state return. In this case, the state information is taken from the federal information that you entered (it's usually not in the state interview), so unless you know how your federal and state return should turn out, the safe bet is to enter the mortgage interest and property tax in the federal interview anyway.