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Seeking a second opinion on what my tax preparer provided me in my 2017 taxes.

I made an estimated tax payment of $20,000 to the State of California in Dec 2017 (for a stock sale I made in Nov 2017).

My tax preparer used our Standard Deduction of $12,700 (married, filing jointly) and didn't run a Schedule A calculation to see if my estimated tax payment would give us more favorable treatment.

A previous tax preparer I spoke with told me to make the estimated tax payment when I did so I could benefit from the deduction.

Question 1: Is my estimated tax payment in 2017 eligible as an itemized deduction on my 2017 taxes?

Question 2: If my Form 1040, Line 38 is over $200K, would itemizing with Schedule A (and using my estimated tax payment deduction) lower my tax due?

Thanks!

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  • Not just the estimated tax payment, but also all state tax withholding throughout the year are deductible on Schedule A. Also any charitable contributions which might normally be too small to have a benefit. It is hard to believe it would not lower your tax.
    – prl
    Commented Mar 30, 2018 at 8:29

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An estimated-tax payment that you made in 2017 to state and local government is eligible to be included on line 5 of your 2017 Schedule A.

Did you have to pay the federal Alternative Minimum Tax (calculated on Form 6251)? Deductions for state and local taxes don't count for anything in that calculation.

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