I filed amended state returns for prior years (2018-2020) in early 2022 and received refunds later that year. All three years we took the standard deduction which would have made the state tax refund non-taxable. Yet when I enter them individually in our 2022 Turbotax Premier return (to correctly identify the tax years) they increase my tax liability despite it also using the standard deduction. Is this correct? If not, is this a Turbotax error? What is my path forward? Thanks!
Do not enter the state refunds in TurboTax at all. You know they're not taxable, so there is no reason to enter them. Even if you enter them, no information about the refunds is going to be included in your tax return, since they are not taxable.
The TurboTax interview doesn't handle refunds for multiple years very well. You might have misunderstood a question or answered a question incorrectly, or the question might have been poorly worded. In your situation, the best approach is to not enter the refunds at all.
Whether you use the standard deduction or itemized deductions on your 2022 tax return has no effect on whether the state refunds are taxable.