TT wants 1040 10b populated even with itemized deductions

[tanaats]

I have TT Deluxe 2020. I've entered my charitable donations. When I get to the Federal Review step it says there's an error, and takes me to the 1040 Worksheet, and wants me to put something into Line 10b "Charitable contributions if you take the standard deduction." That line is currently empty and highlighted red.

The Form 1040 instructions say "Charitable contributions. If you don't itemize your deductions on Schedule A (Form 1040), you may qualify to take a deduction for charitable contributions on line 10b. See the instructions for line 10b for more information and to find out how much of a deduction you can take."

My confusion is that I'm not taking the standard deduction, I'm itemizing. The itemized deduction amount is already in Line 12.

Any thoughts? Thanks!

[JamesG1 · Accepted solution]

The screen Charitable Cash Contributions under Cares Act appears after you qualify for the standard deduction.

I have been able to create a tax return in TurboTax Online Deluxe, qualify for the standard deduction and add the $300 deduction. Federal Review is successful.

Then I am able to remove the $300 deduction and return to Federal / Deductions & Credits where I add itemized deductions and qualify for itemized deductions.  The screen Charitable Cash Contributions under Cares Act does not appear because I qualify for itemized deductions, not the standard deduction. Federal Review is again successful.

 At some point preparing your return did you come upon the screen Charitable Cash Contributions under Cares Act?  Has some value been entered in the input screen?

See this TurboTax Help.

[tanaats]

Thanks JamesG1, in following your advice I noticed that my understanding that TT was using itemized deductions was incorrect. At one point it said it was going to itemize, but it ended up giving me the standard deduction.

In trying to troubleshoot this I assumed that it was using the itemized number when I saw that the final deduction amount being used was $20,300, because I'd read that the standard deduction for HoH is $18,650. I didn't know about the age adjustment. I don't remember being asked about Cares donations, but I put $300 into line 10b and TT is happy now.