What is sales tax , It's giving me a yes and no option for it .

Sales tax is the amount of tax you pay when you buy something. It’s added to your bill.

 

The IRS allows you to deduct either sales tax or state income tax. If you live in a state without an income tax, then you should definitely enter your sales tax information.

 

If you live in a state with an income tax, the income tax deduction usually works out better.

 

TurboTax will compare sales tax and income state and give you the bigger deduction. It never hurts to try the sale tax deduction anyway, especially if you made a larger purchase during the year, such as buying a car.

Sales tax is an itemized deduction. You get no benefit from itemizing deductions unless the total is more than the standard deduction for your filing status. Itemized deductions include medical expenses you paid out of pocket in excess of 7.5% of your AGI, the total of property and sales or state income taxes limited to $10,000, mortgage interest, and charitable contributions.  If you have a state income tax, you can only deduct state income taxes or sales taxes but not both.