Turbotax Premier 2023 will not let me choose itemized deductions

[PAZ31]

I am unable to choose "Itemized Deductions" - the program will only select Standard Deductions.  When I look at Schedule A in form view, line 17 shows $33,857 (much more than the standard deduction of $27,700).  When I look at the "Deductions & Credits" tab, there is no option to "Let Me Choose" what to walk through.  I followed the instructions at this link (https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/tax-credits-deductions/change-standard-d...) and I have no option to "Change My Deduction".  Thank you!

[KrisD15]

Are you Married Filing Separately? 

If Yes, did you tell the program your spouse was taking the Standard Deduction?

If yes, you must file the same way as your spouse. 

[PAZ31]

I am filing Jointly.

[twalt20 · Accepted solution]

Not sure if this will help you or others, but I wanted to itemize my Oregon State Taxes and take the standard deduction on federal, but it wasn't giving me the option to switch either federal or state following the directions. TurboTax Deluxe, Desktop version.

The "trick" that solved it for me was unchecking "Check this box to take the standard deduction even if less than itemized deductions" checkbox for federal Info Worksheet. I highly doubt I would have selected this as an option on a prompt, but I can't remember all the prompts. I had to remove my state return and redo it.

Steps:

1. Click on Federal Taxes tab
2. Tools -> My Tax Data
   1. Info Wks, Standard ded regardless
   2. Go To Form
   3. uncheck the box
   4. Close Form
3. File -> Remove State Return
4. Redo your state return

Take note of your refunds. Mine went up a couple hundred dollars since my OR state itemized around $9k vs $5.2 OR standard deduction...

TurboTax should recalculate your state taxes when this checkbox is changed, but it did not, even after clicking through all the prompts in State Taxes tab.

Scary part is that it doesn't even alert you that you would get a better refund by itemizing. It should certainly double check that you meant to take "the standard deduction regardless". Before I figured out my problem. I changed federal to itemized (to try and get my state to itemize, which worked) and I can hardly believe that they also didn't warn or alert me that my decision to itemize for federal was worse than taking the standard deduction. What does the "Smart Check" or "Let's check it over" even check for??? Put me on the list of folks changing to different tax software next year...

Also hint for Oregon folks who paid Metro Supportive House Personal Income Tax (SHS) last year (i.e. paid in 2023 for 2022 or 2021 if you forgot this new tax like most folks). You can deduct it from State Income tax as it is a Local Tax. But don't try to enter it in the State Taxes tab. You have to go back to Federal Taxes and put it in there:

1. Federal - Other Income Taxes
2. Other Income Taxes Paid in 2023
3. ...local income taxes paid in 2023 (bottom one)

Should see it on Schedule OR-A: Line 5. State and local income taxes.

This also applies to Multnomah County Preschool For All Personal Income Tax.

I am not a tax professional and this should not be considered tax advice. 

[PAZ31]

twalt20 - Thank you for the answer.  That fixed my problem.  You should be an "Expert"!!  Have a great weekend!!

[Bike_buddy]

@twalt20 Thank you! I had the same issue as well; the box was checked to take the standard deduction even if less than the itemized deduction. This seems to have been Turbotax's default selection, odd since by taking the itemized deduction I'll have a reduced Federal Tax liability.

Fortunately I was able to uncheck the box without having to delete the State return, which saved me the trouble of having to re-do the state.

For those encountering this issue, here are the steps:

Select Forms icon on upper right corner of the screen

Go to Form 1040 - Info Wks (Federal Information Worksheet)
Scroll down to Part VI - Additional Information for Your Federal Return
Standard Deduction/Itemized Deduction:
Check this box to take the standard deduction even if less than itemized deductions