I found this to be a software bug with the desktop version associated with the Step-by-Step process.
My situation:
- Using Turbo Tax 2021 Premier desktop version with the latest updates as of 3/27/2022.
- I am married filing separately (MFS).
- Explicitly chose itemized deductions during the Personal Info section since my spouse is itemizing as well.
- The total on my Schedule A after filling out all the deduction information was $12800.
- No home mortgage deductions, but made charitable contributions.
What happened:
- Turbo Tax imported $12555 (the standard deduction value for MFS) into line 12a on Form 1040.
- The final check at the end of the Federal Taxes section kept taking me back to fill out line 12b of my 1040 (Charitable contributions if you take the standard deduction).
- Could not manually edit line 12a Form 1040 to match my Schedule A total.
- Explored the links between the different forms (i.e. Form 1040 to Schedule A) and found the proper information was populated in the supporting forms and the forms were properly linked; however, it just did not transfer to Form 1040.
- None of the bug fixes/workarounds in this thread worked.
For MFS any value less than $12850 (the standard deduction + $300 max charitable contributions) may prompt the software to import the standard deduction in line 12a of form 1040. The issue is the Step-by-Step section that tells the software to explicitly take the standard or itemized deduction contains a software bug that unchecks/doesn't check the proper box in the Info Wks form.
Solution:
- Navigate to the Info Wks form and ensure you check one of the boxes in the Standard Deduction/Itemized Deductions portion of Part VI (Additional Information for Your Federal Return).
