federal itemized deduction but maryland is defaulting to standard deduction

[blukanic]

I am in the process of doing my 2025 taxes. I did the federal itemized deductions but turbotax desktop on the state side for Maryland only is using the standard deduction.  How do i change the Maryland side to do itemized? Am i missing a tab to check this or is there a problem.  The disclaimer doing the deduction check says they need to match but the software is not matching.

[AmyC]

There are a few possible options, let's go through them.

• MD passed the Budget Reconciliation Act of 2025 which could be affecting you if your federal AGI is over $100k single/ $200k MFJ. You could be limited by your income. 
• Return to the federal side and look for an option to choose standard or itemized. What it shows and what it is holding may be different since computers have memories.
• Return to the state section and look for an option to choose standard or itemized.
• Since you are in desktop, you can go to FORMS mode and choose the itemized deduction.

You may need to delete the state, Close out of the program. Give it a few minutes to rest - really and then you can go in and update. Finally, enter MD again.

[blukanic]

That worked.  Thank you. 

[jghosh100]

I have the same problem. I am in desktop, but in FORMS mode is not able to choose the itemized deduction for Maryland (although I have selected itemized deduction in my federal return). I cannot delete my state either, it's only allowing me to delete state data but not the whole state return.

[LeticiaF1]

TurboTax transfers data from your federal return to your state return. Before you begin troubleshooting your state return, go back through your federal return and make sure everything is correct.  Make sure that you review your itemized deduction section in the federal return.  

After you review your federal return, select the State Taxes tab and review the state section. Pay close attention to the information, especially if you have made changes to your federal return. There might be new sections that need to be completed. 

Troubleshooting common federal to state transfer issues

@jghosh100

[dsweettax]

I found a way to change MD from standard to itemized.  It is done indirectly by using the "Info Worksheet" form, Part IV, :

3. "Do you want to itemize even if itemized deductions are less than the standard deduction?"

4. "Do you want to take the standard deduction even if less than itemized deductions?"

[dmertz]

If you itemized deduction on your federal tax return but TurboTax is choosing the standard deduction on your Maryland tax return, it's likely that the subtraction for state and local income taxes or the new-for-2025 phaseout of Maryland itemized deductions is resulting in the Maryland standard deduction being higher.  You are permitted to use the standard deduction on your Maryland tax return even though you itemized on your federal tax return.

[joegeodesist]

Okay, for 2025 and beyond perhaps it ISN'T smart for high-income MD residents to use itemized deduction anymore, but the software isn't letting me even try it. Show me the money!

HAL2000 was a software bug. This is a software bug.

I tried "shut it down, let it rest" (!!) and it still didn't work, didn't even sing Daisy Bell.

[DawnC]

Can you clarify - are you trying to itemize on your MD Maryland return, @joegeodesist ?   Are you using TurboTax Desktop or TurboTax Online?   

TurboTax transfers data from your federal return to your state return. If the info in your federal return is incomplete or incorrect, your state return won't be complete or correct either.  Troubleshooting federal to state tax-information transfers

[joegeodesist]

@dmertz I wish it were true that you could itemize for Maryland but not Federal, but marylandcomptroller article=KB0010023  says Under current Maryland law, if you take the standard deduction the federal level, you cannot itemize at the Maryland level.  One-choice-for-both-returns has been a TurboTax constraint in the past.

@DawnC Yes, I am using TurboTax 2025 Desktop for iMac, and though I can get the federal return to flip between standard and itemized deduction, Maryland remains with standard deduction. The Maryland Form view's deduction-chooser is unresponsive. Again, itemized is probably the wrong choice for me, but I wanted a peek to prove it, as TurboTax's advice has been incorrect in the age of the $10K SALT cap.

[dmertz]

"I wish it were true that you could itemize for Maryland but not Federal, but marylandcomptroller article=KB0010023  says Under current Maryland law, if you take the standard deduction the federal level, you cannot itemize at the Maryland level."

That's correct.  I didn't say otherwise.  You have been permitted to take the standard deduction for Maryland if you itemized federal, so I'm not sure why TurboTax would have previously forced you to itemize Maryland taxes whenever you itemized federal.  I was able to create such a scenario with 2020 TurboTax, but only if I forced federal to be itemized even though the federal standard deduction was lower.  In that case I think TurboTax should have chosen to use the Maryland standard deduction.  With 2020 TurboTax I was not able to find a scenario where the Maryland standard deduction was was higher if I allowed TurboTax to choose on its own to itemize federal.  Still, I can't imagine a scenario where it would made sense to force federal to itemize unless the Maryland itemized deductions would be higher than the standard deduction, so prior to 2025 I can't think of a reason that it would make sense to take the Maryland standard deduction when itemizing federal (except possibly in the case of Married Filing Separately; I didn't investigate that).

[krelged]

Thank you a million!!  This allowed me to compare itemized versus standard deductions to verify which is better!

[paulharv66]

Hi! I'm in the same boat as you. Of the steps given, which did you do? Thanks!