For the 2020 CARES act charitable contribution, does the $300 limit apply for individuals as stated in the law and a joint return could claim $600 or only $300 per return

[dcdrosera]

The only guidance I've read is that married filing separately needs to be $150 per return. The law states "ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘eligible individual’ means any individual who does not elect to itemize deductions."

Does that mean married filing jointly counts as two individuals?

[DaveF1006]

Right now, the deduction is ambiguous because of recent changes in Congress. Before, the cap was $300 for individual and Married Filing jointly and $150 for Married Filing Separately.

Congress has extended this Cares Contribution deduction to 2021 in the legislation was to increase the contribution to $600. Because this is so recent, I don't believe the IRS has implemented this into their tax code yet. The reason I say this is that I tried to research this question in Publication 526-Charitable Contributions and was informed that they were finalizing a current revision to this publication because of the change in the tax law.

So this means for now, $300 for MFJ and single and $150 for MFS until the changes are implemented.

[fflem12029]

How/where is the $300 credit for charitable donation for those using standard deduction entered on TurboTax?

[fflem12029]

We know the law. We are trying to enter the amount for 1040 line b

[WendyN2]

If during the questionnaire, the "question" does not come up automatically (which it should be, however, there was an update this past weekend...) TRY THIS:

Click on the "PERSONAL" tab at the top > then click on the "DEDUCTIONS and CREDITS" section just below it > select "I'll choose what I want to work on" > scroll down to the "Charitable Donations" section and select "Donations to Charities" at the far right > then select "Cash Donations" and enter $300

Now, if it hadn't brought up the question at the end and you choose to take this route (it's really fast), you still might get an "alert" to enter the $300 again - this is the 100% line that requires that $300 to get carried to. I just tried this after the update and this is what I had to do to get it. I hope this helps! I will let PS know of the problem.

[dgherzer]

WSJ reported $300/$600. What is correct?

[JohnW152]

IRS Publication 526, Charitable Contributions (2020), dated March 3, 2021, states:

For tax years beginning in 2020, cash contributions up to $300 can be claimed on Form 1040 or 1040-SR, line 10b. Enter the total amount of your contribution on line 10b. Don’t enter more than:

• $300 if single, head of household, or qualifying widow(er);

• $300 if married filing jointly; or

• $150 if married filing separately