For the past couple of years I've been painstakingly going through my deductions and it doesn't add up to the standard deduction. Last year I think I was within $100 but I still ended up taking the standard deduction.
Things are pretty much the same this year. Is there a way to skip through all the deductions part of Turbo Tax and just jump to taking the standard deduction, or do I need to go through all the deductions part before being told the standard deduction is what I want?
You don’t have to itemize your deductions but in some states the standard deduction is much lower than the federal so the tax payer can file with the standard deduction for federal and itemize on the state return.
If you want to skip entering your itemized deductions you can do that. Many people will not have enough itemized deductions this year to itemize, and will just be getting their new higher standard deduction. The thing is, though, that some of those deductions could make a difference on a state return even if they do not affect your federal return. Information flows from your federal return to your state return, so it might not be a bad idea to go ahead and enter them anyhow. It cannot hurt you.
The following states allow you to itemize deductions on just the state return: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, and Wisconsin,
Thank you for the response.
My state doesn't have income tax so I haven't done a state return in many years. I think I'll just go with the standard.