TT recommending Standard Deduction even though my itemized deductions exceed standard deduction

[carwx]

Married filing jointly.  My itemized deductions well exceed the standard deduction, but Turbo Tax is recommending the standard deduction.  Even if I switch to itemized, the refund amount doesn't change.  Is there some other limitation to taking itemized deduction?

Also, TT isn't including some of my deductions in the itemized total, but the total is still above standard deduction amount.

[AnnetteB6]

TurboTax will recommend using the standard deduction instead of itemized deductions when the standard deduction is large enough to reduce your taxable income to zero.  If that is the case, there is no need to file an additional form for itemized deductions since there is no benefit on your tax return.  

Use the following steps to view your Tax Summary using TurboTax Online in order to check to see if your taxable income is zero:

• On the left side of the screen, select Tax Tools
• Select Tools
• Select View Tax Summary

If you are using a CD/downloaded version of TurboTax, go to Forms at the top right corner of your screen.  Then, select Form 1040 in the list on the left side of the screen.  Take a look at line 11b to see if it is zero.

[carwx]

Ah, yes, taxable income is 0.  I was looking at AGI, which isn't 0.  Thank you so much for the explanation!

My other question, which is more curiosity now, is why TT didn't include some of my deductions in the total.  My eduction, loan interest, and income tax weren't included, and charity was less than what I claimed.  Is that because using the included deductions already reduced my taxable income to 0?

[DianeC958]

Yes, since your taxable income is $0 there is no benefit to deducting the individual items.