How can I fix the error on line 10b of form 1040 when I have itemized

Remove the charitable contribution at the screen Charitable Cash Contributions under CARES Act.

If you are in TurboTax Online, the screen Charitable Cash Contributions under CARES Act appears as the end of Deductions & Credits. First you have to pass the screen Based on what you told us, the standard deduction is best for you at the end of Deductions & Credits.

But you have to qualify for the standard deduction before the screen appears.  So you may want to change the value of one or more itemized deductions to $1 so that you qualify for the standard deduction.

Follow these steps: 

• At the top of the screen, click on Deductions & Credits.
• Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on Wrap up tax breaks.
• Continue through several screens.
• At the screen Based on what you told us, the standard deduction is best for you, click Continue.
• At the screen Any Charitable Cash Contributions? remove the dollar amount.
• Continue through Federal Review to make sure that things look correct.

Then restore your itemized deductions dollar amounts.

See also this TurboTax Help.

After talking to an IRS agent on 9 Feb 2021, it appears the response provided by TurboTax may be in error.  According to the IRS agent, line 10b should accept an entry of up to $300 when using the standard deduction option, regardless of AGI.  The agent said that IRS guidance/rule for line 10b has likely been updated between 2019 and 2020, and that TurboTax has not yet made the necessary changes to its software to handles this line 10b properly.

Currently, TurboTax requires line 10b be set =0, even though there has been a cash contribution to a qualified charity.  TurboTax needs to be updated slo that if the standard deduction is chosen, line 10b is either defaulted to $300, or set to the amount of cash contribution entered elsewhere (Sch A?) if that is less than $300.  

The workaround is to 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 will be back on Form 1040 line 10b, but it should not be flagged as an error if you enter it in Donations to Charity.

@jelliswp

Thank you. That did it!

First I updated manually then went through your step by step. I'm still getting the same errors message when I'm ready to file. The screen that shows 1040 charitable contributions should be 0.

If you are having issues and need assistance, please contact customer support. Please see the Customer Support phone number here. If you would like to reach out through our website, please see the TurboTax FAQ below for contact information: https://support.turbotax.intuit.com/contact/

HI Renee:

Are you saying to re-enter your charitable contributions?  

I cleared line 10b and also tried to make it 0 but I still get a message flagging that line as an issue?

@mn3268, if the workaround suggested by @ReneeM7122 is still not working for you and you still get a message flagging that link as an issue, you would need to reach out to TurboTax customer support for assistance.

Hello:

OK, I will try and contact.  I am barely over the standard deduction limit so it seems TT keeps working my numbers like I am taking the standard deduction and won't accept my form unless I put $300 in 10b even though I told it I want itemized deduction?

mn3

@ReneeM7122 Adding that $300 into donations, what do you list it as? Thank you for your help. I'm having this same issue.

@jfoust For this entry, you can simply put "church" or "various charitable donations" as it will accept anything of the like. 

Turbo Tax should provide this guidance to online users.  I had to abort my tax prep to do online searching.  Disappointed in TT.   It throws an error without any direction on what caused the error, what the correct value should be, or where to go for the workaround.    

You should follow the advice of JamesG1 at the top of this thread @billjoe. 

If you still need assistance, it would be best to click here and speak with a customer support specialist. 

This is my exact problem. Now I am getting the itemized charitable amount PLUS this $300, which isn't right. 

I finally got an answer on the phone from TurboTax! The latest person I talked with said to put nothing there - no zeros, no numbers. That finally did it! 

Yes, you are correct. When itemizing deductions, and not claiming the standard deduction, the extra Cares Act donation deduction is not available.

1. To enter charitable donations in TurboTax Online, follow these steps:

• From the left menu, select Federal.
• Four tabs will appear across the top of your program. Select the second tab, Deductions & Credits.
• Scroll to Charitable Donations and select Start to begin. 
• Answer Yes to Do you want to enter your donations for 2020?
• For each donation, follow these steps:
  • Enter who the donation was to at Let's enter your donations one at a time and indicate what type of item was donated, either an Item, Money, Stock, or Mileage and travel expenses
  • Follow the prompts from there, and enter the amount of the donation 
  • When finished, select Done with This Donation.
• Select + Add Another Donation if you have additional entries and Continue. 
• Next, to trigger the extra deduction screen, run through all the deductions and credits and click Wrap Up Tax Breaks again to trigger the Cares Act Charitable Donation screen so that it will automatically calculate. Leave this cell blank. The information entered in the regular area will be calculated and the maximum allowable deduction will be added.

2. To do this in TurboTax CD/Download, follow these steps:

• Go to the PERSONAL tab and select the second button from the left, Deductions & Credits.
• Select I'll choose what I work on.

• Enter in the charitable donation amount as you normally would in the Charitable Donations section of Deductions & Credits.
• When finished entering all donations, select Done with Charitable Donations and Continue.
• Scroll to the end of the Deductions & Credits page and select Done with Deductions.
  • You may need to respond to any other additional questions. You will eventually see: The Standard Deduction is Right for You! 
  • Click Continue.
  • Now, you will see Charitable Cash Contributions under Cares Act where you will see any qualified contribution amount already entered from your earlier posts. Leave this blank. Select Continue. 

Do not enter anything more for the amount. If there is an amount prepopulated here, do not adjust it. Proceed through the rest of the interview.

Run the Review again. This should clear the error.

Keep in mind, the advantage to standard deduction filers was not the only provision for increasing charitable contributions from the Cares Act. Donations were allowed up to 100% of adjusted gross income, as well. For more information, see: Charitable Contribution Deductions | Internal Revenue Service

@HMT1960

@jfoust

Hello, I followed your above instruction but I don't see this tab " Wrap Up Tax Breaks" under the Deductions & Credits. Is it under a specific category?  Thanks.

It sounds like you may be in the desktop version of the software. 

Scroll down to #2 in the instructions by KathrynG3.  You will need to scroll down to the bottom of the Deductions & Credit screen and select Done with Deductions.

@rlarosa67

I am using the CD version of TT2020.  I am NOT taking the standard deduction and am itemizing my deductions.  The amount I enter for Charitable Donations  shows up on the form for 1040 worksheets to the left of Boxes 10a and 10B.  It does not show up on Form 1040, just the worksheets.  However when I file my taxes online from Turbotax, the return is rejected stating that the Total Adjustments should deduct the charitable donations in box 10.  By the way they are also included in line 12 as itemized deductions and on Schedule A Line 11 only.  

I cannot file my taxes online and TT says I need to print the 100 plus pages for both federal and state and mail them in to both the IRS and CA FTB.  What's the use of using TurboTax when it has this apparent error.  VERY FRUSTRATED.  

Good news.  I tweaked the TT file enough and refiled through TT and the return went through.