Std vs. Itemized Deduction election

[Rumpelstilschen]

Hi,

Following the completion of the Deductions & Credits section, the next screen says that "Although we recommend you itemize your deductions of $xx,xxx, you've chosen to take the federal standard deduction of $xx,xxx instead".

I may have previously changed the deduction from the recommended itemized to standard to see the effect, but I cannot change to back to itemized now.  I've checked the 'Change my deduction' box, saved the file and exited/reentered TT, but it keeps appearing as "...you've chosen to take the federal standard deduction of $xx,xxx instead".

How can I change this back?

[JohnB5677]

We can help you with this.

You can always switch to a different deduction. However, if you and your spouse are filing separate federal returns, both of you must take the same deduction per IRS rules.

Use TurboTax Online if you're using the web version of TurboTax.

Or use TurboTax CD/Download for the stand-alone version.

You may also be interested in a video What are standard and itemized deductions?

[rjs · Accepted solution]

You may have done this, but it's not clear from what you wrote. When the "Change my deduction" box is checked, there are two buttons below that for itemized deductions and standard deduction. You have to click the button to select itemized deductions, then click Continue. See the screen shot below.

[Rumpelstilschen]

Yup, that fixed it - I can't believe I missed that before - thx!