topic Can I enter actual fuel and food expenses for travel related to a charity? I don't want mileage. TT Deluxe won't allow me to enter any travel expenses without mileage. in Deductions & credits

Can I enter actual fuel and food expenses for travel related to a charity? I don't want mileage. TT Deluxe won't allow me to enter any travel expenses without mileage.

rkschaller — Sat, 13 Mar 2021 14:58:49 GMT

I would like to enter actual fuel and food expenses for travel related to a charity. But under charitable contributions, it always asks for and reverts to mileage. I am not claiming mileage but Turbo Tax Deluxe won't allow me to enter any travel expenses without mileage and when I enter it, it always assigns a mileage deduction. I know I can't claim both actual expenses and mileage, the IRS allows one or the other, but TT does not allow me to enter actual travel expenses.

Re: Can I enter actual fuel and food expenses for travel related to a charity? I don't want milea...

AnnetteB6 — Sat, 13 Mar 2021 15:21:27 GMT

You can enter your actual expenses related to charitable travel by skipping the mileage field. If anything is entered in that box, then the standard charitable mileage rate will be used to calculate the mileage portion of the deduction.

Instead, enter the date of your travel and the total cost of your other travel expenses plus the description. This will allow your deduction to be based on the expenses you entered instead of mileage.

Be sure you have kept records to substantiate your expenses. Your records may include the miles you drove even if the deduction was not calculated using the standard charitable mileage rate.

Re: Can I enter actual fuel and food expenses for travel related to a charity? I don't want milea...

rkschaller — Sat, 13 Mar 2021 15:30:49 GMT

I tried leaving the mileage field blank but TT Deluxe would not allow me to continue without something entered in that field. I even tried entering 1 mile, but it then still listed the expense as "mileage" rather than actual expenses.

Re: Can I enter actual fuel and food expenses for travel related to a charity? I don't want milea...

DaveF1006 — Mon, 15 Mar 2021 23:33:12 GMT

It depends. The IRS does allow you to enter actual travel expenses in lieu of mileage.

Log into Turbo Tax
Go to federal>deductions and credits>Charitable Donations>Donations to Charity in 2020
When you find your charitable donation on the summary page, select edit
Select add a donation underneath that entry
Select mileage and business expenses
Next page will say Enter your mileage and travel expenses for XXXXX.
At the bottom, the page will say other travel costs. Enter the amounts here plus a brief summary of your travel costs.
Here is a screenshot on what this looks like.

Re: Can I enter actual fuel and food expenses for travel related to a charity? I don't want milea...

RDavis747 — Mon, 10 Feb 2025 00:59:04 GMT

I followed the instructions and I still get the same error: .

But if I enter that information, it says it will use the milage and I cannot enter milage and actual. SOOO????

Re: Can I enter actual fuel and food expenses for travel related to a charity? I don't want milea...

MonikaK1 — Tue, 11 Feb 2025 01:32:51 GMT

If you go back to the input screen, and enter "0" for the miles, and a number in the number of trips field, TurboTax will accept the entry for the other travel costs. It won't accept leaving either the mileage field or the number of trips field blank.