What should I enter when "confirming your 2023 Federal Return" when I am married filing jointly for the first time? This is to see if my state refund is taxable.

A state tax refund is only taxable if you itemized deductions on your federal return last year for 2023.   Look at your 2023 Form 1040.   Do you have your standard deduction amount on line 12 or did you itemize and is it some other amount?    If you used standard deduction you do not have to enter your state refund.

 

2023 STANDARD DEDUCTION AMOUNTS

 

SINGLE $13,850  (65 or older/legally blind + $1850)

 

MARRIED FILING SEPARATELY $13,850  (65 or older/legally blind + $1500)

 

MARRIED FILING JOINTLY $27,700  (65+/legally blind) )  + $1500 per spouse

 

HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD  $20,800 (65 or older/blind)  + $1850)

 

 

To find out if your state refund from last year is tax-deductible, the program needs to know your 2023 federal information. As xmasbaby0 mentioned, for the prior year state refund is taxable, all three of the following statements must be true:

 

• You itemized deductions last year, instead of taking the standard deduction.
• You claimed state and local income taxes (not general sales taxes).
• Claiming the deduction helped you increase your federal refund or lower your tax bill.

By answering the information the program is asking, TurboTax will calculate the taxable amount for you.

 

@robsvb