If you are skipping schedule A and taking the standard deduction, access your Charity deduction by following these steps:
- In TurboTax select Federal in the panel on the left
- Select Deductions & Credits at the top of the page
- Under Your Tax Breaks - Charitable Donations
- Click START to the right of Donations to Charity in 2020
- Click YES
- Click ADD next to Money
- Type in the name of the charity that you donated to
- Type the amount of the donation
- Select Done with Donation
- Select Done
Now the deduction should appear on Line 10B and in the Charitable Contributions screen.
How the CARES act changes deducting charitable contributions made in 2020
Previously, charitable contributions could only be deducted if taxpayers itemized their deductions.
However, taxpayers who don't itemize deductions may take a charitable deduction of up to $300 for cash contributions made in 2020 to qualifying organizations. For the purposes of this deduction, qualifying organizations are those that are religious, charitable, educational, scientific or literary in purpose. The law changed in this area due to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act.
Keep in mind, it is very important to keep records of your charitable contributions. If the IRS asks about them later, they will be denied if you don't have a record, receipt, letter, etc.
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