Change Maryland Tax Return to Itemize

[user17717087473]

My federal return is set to "itemize deduction" but Turbo Tax online automatically sets my Maryland state return to "standard deduction". I understand the state law passed in 2025 will reduce my itemized amount but I still need to itemize on the state return. How can I change the state return to "itemize" manually (it is not automatically doing this in line with the federal return)?

[MDHokie]

I am also seeing this same error in TurboTax Desktop 2025. In past years it would always switch the state return to match the deduction method used in the federal return (as is required by Maryland law).

This appears to be a bug. 

[user17717087473]

Actually, upon further review I think the software is defaulting to the standard deduction for MD due to the new law that MD passed in 2025 that phases out itemized deductions above certain income levels. After doing the math manually that makes sense, because my itemized deduction is completely eliminated by the phase out rule. It would still be nice if Turbo Tax gave you the option between the two and then just popped up a warning explaining why you shouldn’t itemize vs just forcing you into standard without an explanation.

[AmyC]

We at Intuit TurboTax want our users to be completely delighted with their experience using our products and services, and successful in their financial lives and businesses.

Once you file your return, as long as the settings to receive communication from Intuit don’t block it, you will see a pop-up message or receive an email with a survey asking you about your experience. We encourage you to leave your notes and comments there. “Voice of the Customer” notes and comments are read and acted upon. 

If you are using TurboTax Desktop, you can also leave feedback at the Final Steps tab.

[tara2223]

Is there a fix on how to update state deduction? At this point, I can’t even get into my state return to edit, but I was never given the question on whether to use itemized or standard deductions. It just assumed standard which is incorrect even by the new MD phase out law. This has been the worst year with bugs in the online version. 

[user17724076434]

That is diabolical that Maryland changed their tax law to phase out the itemized deduction. We were forced to 'couple' our return to the Federal Return that resulted in having to pay more MD state taxes. Now that we get some Federal relief because of the increase in the SALT limit from 10,000 to 40,000, Maryland is penalizing us again. I need TurboTax to allow me to select between Standard or Itemized and generate a screen that says that I cannot Itemize even though I itemized on my Federal Return because I exceeded a threshold for my records.

[tara2223]

Is there any way to handle this with the Online version? 

[AmyC]

It sounds like you are well aware of the many new rules for MD which include the new state phase-out for itemized deductions. MD TY25 changes pages 3-4 show the chart of income vs itemized deductions.

I think you are saying that you need to do a standard deduction due to your income and not seeing how to do it online. I also do not see that option but feel the program should be that smart.

I would like to take a deeper look at this. However, I need a diagnostic file which is a copy of your tax return that has all of your personal information removed. Please notify me by adding @AmyC to your response. If I discover a solution, I will reply. Otherwise, it will be moved on to an investigation team.

You can send a token to me by following the directions below:

TurboTax Online:
Sign into your online account.
Locate the Tax Tools on the left-hand side of the screen. 
A drop-down will appear. Select Tools 
On the pop-up screen, click on “Share my file with agent.”
This will generate a message that a diagnostic file gets sanitized and transmitted to us.
Please provide the Token Number that was generated in the response.

TurboTax Desktop/Download Versions:
Open your return.
Click the Online tab in the black bar across the top of TurboTax and select “Send Tax File to Agent”
This will generate a message that a diagnostic copy will be created. Click on OK and the tax file will be sanitized and transmitted to us.
Please provide the Token Number that was generated in the response.

@tara2223  or @user17724076434 

[tara2223]

No, that is not the case. I itemized on Federal and it has automatically has me as standard deductions for state with no way to change to itemized. Based on the MD law, I’m still able to itemize. This is a bug in Turbo Tax Online and from my research was also an issue last year. 

[RogerD1]

I've been using a mock return in TurboTax and have been working with several scenarios with varying amounts of Federal itemized deductions and the only time it switched to a standard deduction for Maryland was when it was more beneficial to do so.

While Federal deductions for state and local income taxes are allowed, they must be subtracted out of the Federal itemized deductions to arrive at the Maryland itemized deduction.  If your only Federal itemized deductions were state and local income taxes, this could be why you are getting the Maryland standard deduction on your return.

It would be really helpful if you followed the instructions for sending the diagnostic file (as outlined in AmyC's post, earlier), so that we can take a much closer look at your particular situation to see if we can figure out why you might be getting a Maryland standard deduction when itemizing Federal.