Where do I put the itemized deduction for investment interest expenses in order to claim it for state if I did standard deduction for federal?

[demastte]

I want to use an investment interest expense for maintaining limited partnerships as the deduction for state but not federal. I'm trying to do itemized deduction for state but standard for federal, but I can't find the option. How do I do this?

[Opus 17]

All deductions must be entered in the federal interview.  The information will transfer "downhill" to the state return.  This is true even for deductions that you can't use on your federal return (like W-2 employee work-related expenses) and deductions you don't plan to use (like donations to charity).

Also note that some states do not allow you to itemize your deductions on your state return if you use the federal standard deduction.  Turbotax will allow you to itemize on your state return if you state allows it. 

[demastte]

Thanks for the reply. I input my deduction as "Investment Interest Expenses" in the Tax Break section under "Deductions and Credit" for the Federal. I'm filing for California, and they do allow you to itemize your deductions on your state return if you use the federal standard deduction. When Turbotax generates the California return, it does not seem to transfer that deduction downhill even though it's much larger than the state standard deduction. Is there a way to manually force turbo tax to choose itemized deduction for the state return? Is there anything else I can check in my return that would prevent the deduction from being transferred downhill to the state return?

[Opus 17 · Accepted solution]

If you are using TT Online, you won't be able to access your forms and worksheets until you pay, and even then, you can't directly edit the forms like you can in the desktop version.

This is what the California instructions say for schedule CA:

Line 9 – Investment Interest Expense

Your California deduction for investment interest expense may be different from your federal deduction. Use form FTB 3526, Investment Interest Expense Deduction, to figure the amount to enter on line 9, column B or column C.

Because you can't access the form, and no one on this board can see your tax file, there's no way to help troubleshoot why you might not have a CA form 3526, or why you might not qualify for the deduction.

You may want to contact Turbotax customer support and ask for a California state specialist to look at your file.