Question

Cash charitable donation deduction

Forum|Forum|4 years ago
January 26, 2022
3 replies
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I just had an issue with the amount given for a charitable cash donation. I am filing married filing jointly have over $2800 in cash donations but for line 12b Turbo Tax only gave me a $300 deduction. This has changed in 2021 and should be $600 instead.

To fix I had to go in and overwrite the figure. Anyone else having this issue?

H

HelenC12

If you override the charitable contributions amount, you won't be able to E-file. For this year, even if you don’t itemize, you may take a charitable deduction of up to $300 ($600 if married filing jointly) for cash contributions made in 2021 to qualified organizations.

Here are some possible solutions so your tax return reflects the $600 charitable contribution:

Make sure you compete the entire interview,
Do a final review,
Make sure you enter that the contribution was money, and
Make sure you are claiming the standard deduction.

Related Information:

How do I enter my 2021 charitable donations in TurboTax?

**Say "Thanks" by clicking the thumb icon in a post**Mark the post that answers your question by clicking on "Mark as Best Answer"

J

JackBlundell

I have the same problem, and soon many other users will as well. This is a software defect, and it will impact any Turbo Tax user with filing status of Married Filing Jointly, who takes the Standard Deduction, and who made more than $600 in charitable contributions.

It pops up in the Smart Check review, where Turbo Tax flags an error. In the screen shot below, you can see that Turbo Tax had incorrectly entered $300 on line 12b of the 1040 worksheet. Smart Check catches it, identifies the entry as an incorrect value, and prompts for an over ride. I enter 600 at the prompt, and it seems as though I am good to go.

When I run Smart Check again, I get the same error. When I view the error I find I am back where I started - Turbo Tax has inserted 300 in the worksheet and Smart Check has flagged it as an error! Intuit needs to fix this.

J

JamesG1

@JackBlundell

Do you qualify for the standard deduction or itemized deductions?

TurboTax knows this by reaching the screen Based on what you just told us, the Standard Deduction is best for you. At the section Deductions & Credits, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on Wrap up tax breaks.

Federal 1040 line 12b Charitable Cash Contributions under CARES Act can be entered at either:

Deductions & Credits / Donations to Charity or
at the screen Charitable Cash Contributions under CARES Act immediately following Based on what you just told us, the Standard Deduction is best for you.

However, always pass all the way through both Deductions & Credits and Other Tax Situations.

At Deductions & Credits, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on Wrap up tax breaks.

At Other Tax Situations, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on Let’s keep going.

[Edited 01/30/2022 12:19 PST]

@JackBlundell

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J

JackBlundell

@JamesG1

Thank you for your prompt reply and advice. To be clear, I am using the downloaded Turbo Tax Premier on a Windows 10 PC. The module name and version number are shown below:

My filing status is Married Filing Jointly. Turbo Tax says that the standard deduction is best for me. I made $5050 cash donations to charities last year, and I want my $600 CARES Act deduction :-). As an exercise, I followed your directions and deleted the charitable deduction entry. My return passed Smart Check and my Federal tax bill increased by $62, as expected.

Then I went back and reentered my charitable deduction, to see if I could repeat the problem I had experienced. When I reviewed my federal return, Smart Check said all was well, per the screen shot below. Note the Federal refund amount.

Next I went over to the final review phase. Here's a screen shot at the point where analysis was complete and I'm about to review the results:

Here's the results window. Note that the Federal refund number changed to $103:

When I hit the Continue button, I get to the problem I described in my first post:

Here is where it gets weird. I go back to the Federal Review section, and run the Federal Review. Here's what I see when I am about to start. Note the Federal refund number:

Here's that I see when I hit the Continue button and Turbo Tax takes me to the next window. The Federal refund number changes as I watch! I can verify in my 1040 form that the CARES Act deduction number changed from $300 to $600. (I have redacted my income numbers here.)

Now Turbo Tax is ready to check my Federal Return:

And I am back where I started:

I can repeat these steps at will, and get the same results every time. The final check introduces an error, and the Federal check fixes it. Every time.

I strongly suggest that indicates a defect in the version of Turbo Tax that I am running. Someone from the Intuit development team should investigate this defect.

P

PatofIowa

I’m having the same issue. If I do as suggested by removing the itemized charitable contribution then they do not roll over to the state return. Definitely a bug in the program