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Solved

Is anyone seeing the $300 charitable donations deduction for non-itemizers?

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
January 15, 2021
8 replies
0 views

I've entered well over $300 in charitable donations in itemized deduction but don't have enough to itemize, so I'm taking the standardized deduction. The amount I entered for charitable deductions is showing on the 1040 but I'm not getting credit for the $300 deduction.

TurboTax Premier Online

Best answer by MinhT1

For 2020, you are allowed to deduct up to $300 ($150 if Married filing Separately) of cash donations to 501(c)3 organizations even if you do not itemize your deductions.

In order to take this above-the-line deduction, enter your donation(s) under Deductions & Credits > Charitable Donations > Donations to Charities in 2020. The deduction will be added above-the-line by TurboTax after you have completed the Wrap up tax breaks interview in TurboTax if you take the Standard deduction.

On your form 1040, this deduction appears on line 10b - Charitable contributions if you take the standard deduction.

MinhT1Answer

For 2020, you are allowed to deduct up to $300 ($150 if Married filing Separately) of cash donations to 501(c)3 organizations even if you do not itemize your deductions.

On your form 1040, this deduction appears on line 10b - Charitable contributions if you take the standard deduction.

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zacknauth

Thank you! After I completed the "interview" step, the deduction was applied.

Irene2805

Just follow the directions Minh posted above and TurboTax will automatically post the deduction on line 10b of the 1040,

jhalonenm

I entered that I donated $2000 in cash. Turbotax allowed $2000 deduction, without reducing it to $300. Is this an error in their program?

slowreader

Well, it doesn't get reduced on Schedule A. But when I went through the irritating Step-by-Step, the higher figure didn't carry over to Form 1040. Indeed the $300 didn't carry over, either! (No, no glitches here! Move along now!) It's supposed to appear on Line 10b, but it doesn't. But it does show up on line 10c, which adds 10a and 10b.

Of course the fault lies with the Congressfolk who keep changing the laws and the IRS bureaucrats who try to keep up with the changes. TurboTax EVENTUALLY gets this stuff right, but it may take a year or two, by which time of course the laws will be changed again. My only gripe is that TurboTax Help generally denies there IS a problem.

cjlangAuthor

You have to scroll down on the Deductions and Credits main page and click on "Wrap up tax breaks." That generates the $300 deduction on the 1040 Line 10b if you are not itemizing, and this amount is included on line 10c. The 1040 also shows the total amount of the donations you entered. There is no issue here; you just have to go through the process.

Aaron117

After changing the box to 300, it still pops up when I run smart check and I cannot get past this point.

jqjyjohnma

I input the $300 but at Federal Review, it says the value unacceptable. If I change it to zero, it will work but I do not get the benefit of $300 amount

slowreader

It's weird. When I put the donations ($450 in my case) into Schedule A, the figure $300 doesn't carry over, but the $300 is indeed deducted in the righthand column. I found it impossible to e-file in another tax return, so I figure that's going to be a problem with the 1040-SR as well. So I've just over-ridden the blank entry, typed in the $300, and everything looks fine. I'll just mail it in and hope TurboTax gets this sorted by next year!

Repaupo

I am working on my 2021 taxes (Desktop version of Turbotax) and I am getting an unacceptable error. I am taking the standard deduction and claiming the additional $600 charitable deduction for joint filers. When I revue my return I get an unacceptable error that I am unable to fix.

Please help.

mglauner

Try this fix from @ReneeM7122:

"Delete the $300 in the error check. Then go back to Deductions & Credits and enter the contribution there, in the Donations to Charity topic. Then click Done with Donations and proceed through the screens until you get to the screen that tells you that TurboTax has added in the contribution.

The contribution should be back on Form 1040 line 10b, but it won't be flagged as an error. It only gets flagged if you enter it when prompted after you finish Deductions & Credits and the software tells you that you are getting the standard deduction. It will not get flagged if you enter it in Donations to Charity."

MConner2

I'm working on 2021 taxes. Answer does not help. I am filing a joint return and using std deduction. I have over 3100.00 in charity. Line 12b of form 1040/1040SR appears to default to 300.00 (should be 600.00). Error message is: "charitable contributions has an unacceptable value." Is there a workaround? My solution is to remove all charity figures and recalculate without benefit of deduction!

DoninGA

Employee

@MConner2 wrote:

I'm working on 2021 taxes. Answer does not help. I am filing a joint return and using std deduction. I have over 3100.00 in charity. Line 12b of form 1040/1040SR appears to default to 300.00 (should be 600.00). Error message is: "charitable contributions has an unacceptable value." Is there a workaround? My solution is to remove all charity figures and recalculate without benefit of deduction!

I am running TurboTax Premier for Windows Version 021.000.0415 and only see this error if I entered a Charitable Donation in the Deductions & Credits section and only eligible for the Standard Deduction.

To remove the error I went into Forms mode and deleted the Charitable Organization Worksheet. Then on the Form 1040 Worksheet for Line 12b removed the $300 amount so Line 12b is now blank (empty).

Going back to Step-by-Step I completed the Deductions & Credits section without entering anything for a charitable donation. Continuing through the screens until landing on the screen labeled Charitable Cash Contributions under Cares Act, I entered $600. Continued through Final Review without error.

For the TurboTax online editions -

The problem appears to be that a charitable donation was entered in the Deductions and Credits section of the program when you are only eligible for the Standard Deduction.

Click on Tax Tools on the left side of the online program screen

Click on Tools

Click on Delete a form

Scroll through the all the forms, schedules and worksheets listed and delete all the Charitable Organization forms listed.

When completed with removing forms click on Continue With My Return at the bottom of the list.

Click on Federal on the left side of the screen

Click on Deductions & Credits at the top of the screen

Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on Wrap up tax breaks

Continue through the screens. After the screen showing that you are getting the Standard Deduction the following screen is Charitable Cash Contributions under Cares Act. Enter $600 if filing Jointly or $300 for all other filing status'. The federal review and the Final Review should no longer show an error for the charitable donation.

tmmill

Employee

For some reason I never get to the CARES act screen. I can not find a workaround for this error. Don't really want to lose the deduction but I want to file my taxes ASAP!

semma

I have the desktop/CD version of TT Premier? I have imported my charitable donations from ItsDeductible, but I am not getting the $300 deduction. I heard there's some "interview questions" to complete. How do I get to the interview question/process from desktop version?

cjlangAuthor

The $300 deduction is based on cash donations only.

TuckerdogAVL

Employee

Is this gone in 2023? Is there any reason to put in charitable donations if you are taking the standard deduction?

DoninGA

Employee

@TuckerdogAVL wrote:

Is this gone in 2023? Is there any reason to put in charitable donations if you are taking the standard deduction?

That was only available on a 2021 tax return. If you are using the Standard Deduction there is no need to enter charitable donations, unless your state allows this deduction then you would want to enter.