Why is TurboTax doing itemize deduction on federal but not my Hawaii state return?

[GinnyF · Accepted solution]

Hawaii and most states do not allow a deduction for state and local taxes as an itemized deduction.

If your state taxes are large, when they are subtracted out of federal deductions, the end result may be smaller than the state itemized deduction. Turbo Tax will always choose the best deduction for the highest refund unless you choose to take the standard deduction.

To check, you can review your federal return, Schedule A and look at Line 5 for the number that is subtracted from federal itemized deductions to arrive at state itemized deductions. Compare that number to your state's standard deduction. You will see which method saves you the most income tax.

As a caution, there are certain circumstances where you might be required to take standard deduction. In the case of a married filing separate return, both taxpayers must use the same type of deductions. So they both take standard deductions or they both take itemized deductions on their separate returns.