I agree that the check of the return resets line 12b to $300 if it was set to 600. When it is flagged you can then correct it to 600, and then, as long as you don't do a recheck ( which the instructions on the page says you SHOULD do), the program will go ahead and allow you to finish the return, and file it.
However, the program is not just changing the summary screen. It is also changing the 1040, since when the the $600 figure is used ( before the check sets it to $300) the refund amount I receive is $66 larger then when it is set to the $300 amount. As soon as the final check occurs the extra $66 disappears. Reentering the $600 returns the extra $66 refund.
As has been said by several others, the problem is in the coding of the program. Last year ( 2020) the maximum allowed amount for the charitable deduction was $300, if married filing joint and using the standard deduction. The problem is likely that the 2021 program has the same code in the check for this deduction, as last years program, and has not been updated to allow the $600 that is this years allowance.
So, it IS a failure of the program and not an error by the user. At the very least Intuit could give the users with this issue a firm statement to simply not repeat the check, if this is the single and only issue that the final check finds. And then they could PATCH the program to work properly, instead of just leaving the bug in place.
CHAMP (rjs) is replying to this thread and saying don't do the Recheck. However, I do not know who CHAMP (rjs) is, and if they represent Intuit directly. So Champ, are you replying as a rep of Intuit?
