Bunching 2-3 years of charitable contributionsHo

Forum|Forum|2 years ago
January 27, 2024
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I have given almost 2 times the standard deduction in 2023 for the last 3 years combined. The high standard deduction means they are worthless (less than) for tax credits year by year. However, if I bunch them, they are more than the standard deduction. TurboTax does not see to provide for this ability in the app. Is that true? How can I bunch charitable deductions for 2023? I do not see any info on the Schedule A for either for this "bunching" option.

Reference: https://www.schwabcharitable.org/bunching-charitable-contributions

Best answer by VolvoGirl

I read that link. Schwab means you have to plan ahead and actually make a bigger charity donation in 1 year and then take the Standard Deduction the next year. So instead of making 10,000 in 2023 & 2024 you would donate 20,000 in 2023 and nothing in 2024. Like at the end of the year before Dec 31 make the next year's donation so you can bunch it with the 2023 donation. Too late to do that now for 2023.

robtm

Employee

As far as I know you cannot combine more than 1 year of charitable deductions in any single year. You can only deduct charitable contributions you made in 2023 on your 2023 tax return, you cannot use any contributions you made in 2021 and/or 2022 in 2023.

Texas Roger

Employee

You cannot combine donations from prior years with current year donations on one tax return. You can only claim the donations in the year they were made.

jamesynotAuthor

What is "bunching" then? It is described on the Schwab page.

VolvoGirlAnswer

Employee

jamesynotAuthor

Thanks, that was the other reading I had, but wanted to confirm.

It used to be that charity was promoted, but with a high standard deduction, it does not have an benefit in taxes.

Texas Roger

Employee

It has a benefit if all your itemized deductions add up to more than the standard deduction. For example, I had $35,000 in medical expenses allowing me to enter the amount exceeding 7.5% of my AGI as a medical deduction. I had nearly $10,000 of property tax and sales tax deduction and I had nearly $30,000 of donations. So the total of my itemized deductions far exceeded the standard deduction. As others have said, there are many less tax filers who have enough itemized deductions to be greater than the standard deduction since they increased the standard deduction several years ago.