How to answer questions about 2019 returns after getting married in 2020?

[rwbrowder]

I got married in 2020.  My now-wife and I both filed as single for our 2019 taxes.  My wife received a State refund from her 2019 tax return, which I'm including as income on our 2020 married-joint return now.  For total State taxes paid for 2019 tax year, I've added what we both paid to get to our combined total.  Now TurboTax is asking if the standard deduction or itemized was taken in 2019.  My now-wife took the standard and I itemized.  So I'm uncertain which to select.  Do I choose Standard since the State refund is based on her 2019 filing?

[JamesG1 · Accepted solution]

Are you able to enter each state refund individually?  Then you can report one refund that used the standard deduction and a second refund that used itemized deductions.

The general rule of thumb is that if you did not deduct state and local income taxes because you used the standard deduction, the state refund will not be taxable income.

If you itemized deductions on your Federal tax return, a state refund may or may not be taxable income based upon the numbers from your previous year's tax return.

[rwbrowder]

Thank you for the info.  I only had 1 refund to enter, since I owed on my 2019 filing.  So based on this then, I'll select the Standard deduction that my used on her 2019 filing.  Thanks again for the help!