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

[JamesG1]

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.

[jelliswp]

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.  

[ReneeM7122]

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

[timg1]

Thank you. That did it!

[ard1902]

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.

[KatrinaLO]

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/

[mn3268]

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?

[TiffanyL]

@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.

[mn3268]

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

[jfoust]

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

[WendyN2]

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

[billjoe]

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.    

[CarissaM]

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. 

[HMT1960]

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