My Itemized deduction > standard deduction, but TT says that the refund is greater using the itemed deduction. Should I switch deduction types? Is this an error?

[lori-edelman]

My itemized deduction is ~$14K. The standard for married filing jointly is ~29K. TurboTax has me taking the itemized deduction, saying that my refund will be ~$1K more. Should I switch to the standard deduction? I called and the "expert" said that this could have something to do with AGI or my $960 charitable donation but that didn't sound right. Wondering if this is an error in Turbotax and if I should switch to the standard deduction.

[BrittanyS]

Have you previewed your tax summary using both options to see the difference?

1. From the left rail menu in TurboTax Online, select Tax Tools (You may have to scroll down on the left rail menu.)
2. Select Tax Tools 
   
3. On the drop-down select Tools 
4. On the pop-up menu titled “Tools Center”, select View Tax Summary 
5. On the left sidebar, select Preview my 1040 

[lori-edelman]

Thanks Britney. Yes, I have previewed both options, and even played around with it and switched between them. 

It's very perplexing. How does an itemized deduction that is smaller than the standard deduction produce a higher refund? I actually found the issue right before e-filing when I was able to review the 1040.

I just spent an hour on the phone with a TurboTax expert/CPA. He reviewed the whole return and could not figure it out either. He suggested taking the standard deduction because even though it produces a smaller refund (by about $1k), the refund (or part of it at least) won't be taxable next year if I take the standard deduction.

We double-check filing status (married filing jointly) , so that isn't the issue.