California Adjustments to Federal Itemized Deductions (despite not itemizing)

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
March 11, 2021
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I'm reading through the Schedule CA (540) that TurboTax generated. In Part II, line 5a (state and local income tax or general sales tax), it put $267 in columns A & B. This is not the amount of estimated state & local taxes I paid (I paid $203 state, and $0 local) - I have no idea where it got the number $267.

In the software, when I go to Forms view & view Data Source for that field, it says it comes from federal Schedule A. I did not itemize my Federal return, and thus it did not print a Schedule A, but in Forms view I can see a Schedule A with $267 on line 5a. Again, no idea where it got that number.

1) Why is TurboTax filling out Schedule CA (540) Part II at all, when this section is for adjustments to federal itemized deductions, but I did not itemize?

2) Where did it come up with "$267" on Schedule A (which I'm not using) line 5a?

TurboTax Home & Biz Windows

taxes4739Author

Employee

Addendum: I figured out where it's getting 267. It's 203 (state estimated payments) + 64 (2019 state tax paid in 2020) = 267.

That still leaves the question of why it's filling out this section at all though, when I'm not itemizing my Federal return.

AmyC

Employee

The program will transfer itemized deductions from federal Schedule A even if you cannot itemize deductions on the federal return. If you can itemize deductions on California, you should complete the Schedule A included in the federal program as completely as possible

For the part II, there is a check box that says to check it if you are not itemizing on the federal but are on the state. I bet that box is checked for you.

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taxes4739Author

Employee

Nope, that checkbox was unchecked - it's not having me itemize for State, either. No itemizing for state nor for federal.

scottzzzz

For my 2022 return I had a similar problem. On my California Adjustments - Residents worksheet, Part II, line 5a, where was it getting the value and is the value correct? I tired everything and just couldn't get my numbers to add up to the value shown on 5a. After a very long search I stumbled upon what appears to be a hidden form that clearly showed how turbotax got the number (what they added and subtracted). Here is how to find that form that I think is hidden. (turbo tax should identified values that link).

Go to your Federal Forms and open the form "Tax & Int Wks".

Double click on the number in the column on line h. (Most turbotax numbers aren't linked but this one is.)

This brings up the (hidden?) form "Schedule A Line 5" titled "State and Local Tax Deduction Worksheet"

This worksheet shows the detail of what is included in line 5a of the California form. At this level I was able see the appropriate detail and see that line 21 is subtracted, and have confidence in the result.

Hope this helps.

MonikaK1

If you are ready to file, follow the prompts in the File tab in TurboTax Desktop. It works best to allow the program to submit your Federal and State forms at once.

As long as you have a filing requirement, California will be looking for your California Form 540 as evidence of your filing, regardless of whether you had any California adjustments, deductions, or credits that aren't on your Federal return.

Generally, you must file a California income tax return if you’re a resident, part-year resident, or nonresident and:

Are required to file a federal return
Receive income from a source in California
Have income above a certain amount

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Clark1234

Thank you MonikaK1 for responding to my latest post. I was just about to file when you responded. The CA(540) that Turbo Tax will be submitting (that they shouldn't according to instructions) is actually form California Adjustment (CA for short). It is in addition to the required California 540 form. Very confusing. CA doesn't always stand for California. They shouldn't have named it that in my opinion.