Federal refund is not changing when applying deductions it is staying the same no matter what I do, this is the third year I filed and haven't had this problem.

[Kat · Accepted solution]

The new tax law almost doubled the amount of the Standard Deduction.  It's believed that MANY more taxpayers will now not need to itemize their deductions because of the changes.  This "may" be the issue you're seeing in your return.  See the information below for more explanation.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/replies/4767939

[eraginal]

No matter what I do the number does not move but the CA refund has the federal is not working.

[eraginal]

Also I have it set to for the standard deduction.

[Kat]

@eraginal The federal and state taxing authorities are different.  It's the federal standard deduction that has almost doubled.  I'm not familiar with CA taxes.  But it makes sense that if your entered deductions aren't changing the federal refund monitor, the CA one may still be changing.  You may be exceeding the standard deduction for CA and still be short of itemizing on the federal return.

[eraginal]

You are not understanding a thing I’m saying, simply it does not change no matter if you add $2 of deductions or $100,000 it does not change the number of the refund something is wrong not operator error!

[Kat]

You're correct.  I didn't understand that you were saying the refund monitor isn't responding to any entries.  
I am unaware of any current issues with the refund monitor, but will report this post to TurboTax Moderators.
I will say this, however.  The refund monitor may not change until you have COMPLETED your Deduction and Credits section in its entirety.  

[rjs]

There are other possible reasons that the refund monitor doesn't change. One possibility is that your deductions and credits have reduced your tax liability to zero. It cannot go any lower, no matter how many more deductions you have, so there is nothing more to refund. You are already getting your maximum refund. No amount of deductions can make it any higher. If this is your situation, Form 1040 line 15 will be zero and line 19 (which is your refund) will be equal to line 18.

Another possibility is that you are subject to AMT (Alternative Minimum Tax), in which case many itemized deductions are disallowed. The disallowed deductions include state and local income taxes, sales tax, real estate tax, personal property tax, certain mortgage interest, and some medical expenses. No matter how much you add to these deductions, your refund doesn't change because the deductions are disregarded. The more of these deductions that you have in the first place, the more likely it is that you are subject to AMT. If there is an amount on line 45 of Schedule 2, that indicates that you are subject to AMT.

See the FAQ at the following link for instructions to view your Form 1040 in TurboTax Online. It will also show Schedule 2 (or any of the other Schedules 1 - 6) if it is included in your tax return.

<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1901539-how-do-i-preview-my-turbotax-online-return-before-filing">...>

[eraginal]

Not in this case my refund shows I owe a small amount when I started filing now my taxed amount is the average refund so what I’m saying with or without deductions my federal does not change even the slightest like I said this is my third time filing I’m certain I know what I’m doing

[rjs]

You have been talking about your "refund," but now you say that you do not have a refund. You owe tax. So that raises another possibility. It could be that you do not owe any income tax (Form 1040 line 11a is zero), but there are other taxes included on Form 1040 line 11 or line 14 (from Schedule 4). No amount of itemized deductions will reduce any of these other taxes. Some possible other taxes include the following.

- Self-employment tax
- Social Security and Medicare tax on unreported tips
- Additional tax (i.e. penalty) for early distributions from an IRA or 401(k), failure to take an RMD, or excess contributions to an IRA, ESA, MSA, HSA, or ABLE account
- Household employee taxes ("nanny tax")
- Repayment of the first-time homebuyer credit
- Individual responsibility payment (i.e. penalty) for not having health insurance coverage
- Repayment of excess advance premium tax credit
- Additional Medicare tax
- Net Investment Income Tax
- Tax on a child's interest and dividends reported on your return

[eraginal]

Okay I understand you guys are here to find solutions but now as I feel this is a waste of time no one seems to understand, I worked for the same company and done my taxes here for two years going to do this the third year and never had this problem. Everything you guys are saying does not apply to my situation my w-2 is identical to last years and yet I got a refund then, stop sourcing to documents and source to my turbo tax account and fix the problem there it is not my data entry or my w2 thank you

[MarianaC1]

Hi @eraginal, thank you for posting on AnswerXchange, please be on the lookout of an email from Social We Care.

[macuser_22]

What do you mean "Also I have it set to for the standard deduction."?

If you forced the standard deduction  then it will never change, not matter what itemized deductions you enter if it is not set to automatic.

You can check the actual amount of itemized deductions by using the Search Topics for "itemized deductions, choosing" (under "My Account, Tools" in the online versions).    Click on "Change my deduction". That will display the actual amount of itemized deductions vs. the standard deduction.    (Be sure to uncheck "Change my deduction" after checking it so you do not lock in the wrong deduction.

[eraginal]

Its always been standard I didn't change anything there

[macuser_22]

You can use that to check the amount of itemized also.