Where can I enter medical expenses on my california state return?

[tamara0rich]

TurboTax mentions that medical expenses may be deducted for State returns even if not applicable on federal. However, there's no place to enter medical expenses. Is this an oversight on TurboTax?

[DawnC]

You enter all your medical expenses in the federal section, even if you are taking the standard deduction.   TurboTax will transfer them to your state return.   

How to enter your medical expenses

[mowknow]

Turbotax is preventing me from changing my medical expenses with the message "Right now, the Standard Deduction saves you the most on taxes.", and no option to edit them. I saw elsewhere that I could have to delete schedule A  to enable editing (and presumably re-enter a load of data), but I do not see a schedule A when I click tax tools/tools/delete a form.

[AmyC]

Since you are not itemizing on the federal, you would not have a sch A to delete. You should be able to go back to the deductions and credits section of the return. Locate medical, select the drop down and enter expenses.

@mowknow 

[mowknow]

Thanks for the response, but the problem is that I cannot edit or add medical expenses from the medical expenses screen. I get a message saying ""Right now, the Standard Deduction saves you the most on taxes.". The message changes when I tell turbo tax that I want to file an itemized deduction, but it still won't let me edit or add medical expenses.

[AmyC]

I see you have data stuck. Follow these steps:

Online version:

A full or corrupted cache can cause problems in TurboTax, so sometimes you need to clear your cache (that is, remove these temporary files).

For stuck information follow these steps:

1. Log out of your return and try one or more of the following:
   • Don't use Internet Explorer.
   • Clear cache and cookies,
   • Sign in using a different browser.
   • Sign in using a different device.
2. Log back into your return.
   • Enter the information again.