We got married in 2024. Both filed Single for 2023 taxes. I itemized but he used standard deduction. How do we calculate for refunds we received?

[VolvoGirl]

TurboTax does not handle this. If you enter more than one state refund, it just adds them together. It does not ask separately for each refund whether you itemized last year. It just asks once after all the refunds have been entered. There is only one State and Local Income Tax Refund Worksheet, so there is no way to do the calculation separately for the taxpayer and spouse. The help for the worksheet even says that a change in marital status from last year is one of the situations it does not handle.

So either.....

If you both itemized deductions last year then add them together and enter it.

If you both took the standard deduction last year add them together and enter it.

If one person took itemized deductions and the other one took the standard deduction then only enter the one that itemized deductions.

And answer the follow up questions.

[bcmama6]

When it is asking for the payments made and amounts withheld is it asking for the amounts on the previous years W2, so those on my 2023 if I am currently doing my 2024 taxes.  The explanation they give is confusing.  Thanks.

[KrisD15]

You would only be concerned with your state refund since only you itemized for 2023.

If the amount you deducted for state tax was limited because of the SALT limit of 10,000, and your refund was less than the reduction for limit, the refund is not taxable and you needn't report it. 

In other words, if you paid 12,000 state tax but could only claim 10,000, any refund 2,000 or less is not taxable.

If you only enter your refund, only enter your state payments and withholding. Yes, from YOUR 2023 tax documents.

The program is trying to decide if the state tax deduction would have been altered by your refund amount and if that would have resulted in more tax owed on YOUR 2023 tax year return.

@bcmama6

[bcmama6]

What does SALT mean.  Sorry, not familiar with this term or acronym.

[VolvoGirl]

SALT is State And Local Tax. Which includes property tax, any state tax paid like for last year’s return and includes any state withholding from your W2s and any 1099s you have. And any taxes in W2 box 14 and 19 like SDI or VDI. You can only deduct up to 10,000 (5,000 MFS) for SALT State and local tax.