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Level 3
posted Jan 23, 2021 12:14:15 PM

Minnesota 2020 Charitable Contribution Limit

Minnesota conforms to the federal charitable contributions deduction when itemizing.  The CARES Act increased the limit on cash contributions from 60% to 100% of AGI.  For 2020 does Minnesota allow a deduction up to 100% of AGI for cash Charitable Contributions or is it limited to the 60% as in prior years?  Turbotax is currently limiting it to 60%, but I am not sure that is correct.

0 8 1962
8 Replies
Expert Alumni
Jan 25, 2021 1:27:33 PM

Yes, Minnesota follows the federal amounts for Itemized Deductions so the increased limit applies.

 

Subd. 4. Charitable contributions. (a) A taxpayer is allowed a deduction for charitable contributions. The deduction equals the amount of the charitable contribution deduction allowable to the taxpayer under section 170 of the Internal Revenue Code, including the denial of the deduction under section 408(d)(8), except that the provisions of section 170(b)(1)(G) apply regardless of the taxable year (Minn. Statutes 2020 Section 290.0122)

 

Level 3
Jan 25, 2021 1:49:45 PM

Thank you!  If you are correct then Turbotax Deluxe for Window Desktop is not handling it correctly and limits it to the 60% limit.  How and When will that be corrected?

 

In further research if looks like Minnesota is a static conformity state.  It conforms to the Federal as of a certain year.  It was conforming to the 2018 tax year and I didn't see where the legislature updated this yet.  However the Minnesota tax return instructions say to follow the limits as described in the IRS publication 526, but that has not been issued for 2020 yet.  So it is hard to determine what is right.

Expert Alumni
Feb 1, 2021 4:03:13 PM

The IRS does not open until February 12. Please check Forms Availability for your method of tax preparation. For my system, the MN information worksheet is not even available. Once forms are finalized, then the program will be updated to 2020 information.

 

Related:

 

Charitable Contributions Subtraction | Minnesota Department ...

Level 3
Feb 2, 2021 7:22:25 AM

I wish someone would check and get the program fixed rather than providing boilerplate answers.  All Minnesota forms are supposedly available by TurboTax and the link to MN Dept of Revenue is for those that don't itemize.  Is there a better place to post possible errors in the TurboTax program?

Level 3
Feb 28, 2021 9:30:18 AM

Why is the Minnesota Charitable Contribution limited to 60% of the **bleep**I in Turbotax rather than 100% in 2020?

Expert Alumni
Mar 2, 2021 11:54:51 AM

There is a temporary Suspension of Limits on Charitable Contributions. Individuals may deduct qualified contributions of up to 100 percent of their adjusted gross income.

 

Instead of the full 100% being allowed, some TurboTax customers are incorrectly being limited to 60% on their charitable cash contributions that meet the outlined criteria from the IRS.

Follow these steps to resolve the issue:

  1. Open or continue your return.
  2. Select Personal (or Federal) and then Deductions & Credits.
  3. Scroll down to Charitable Donations and next to Donations to Charity in 2020, select Update/Edit/Revisit.
  4. On the Review All Your Charities screen, select Done with Charitable Donations.
  5. Select Yes on the Donation Limits screen.
  6. Select 100%/50% Charity on all applicable donations and Continue until completed for each donation.
  7. Once complete, line 14 of Schedule A will reflect the appropriate deduction amount. Why are my charitable cash contributions being limited?

 

Level 3
Mar 2, 2021 1:26:02 PM

You answer pertains to the Federal Return which I have already recorded correctly and have greater than 60% in deductible donations.  My question was specifically for the Minnesota Return which is limiting the amount to 60% of Fed Adj Gross Income.

Level 3
Mar 26, 2021 8:24:16 PM

The Minnesota Return as of the update today March 26th still limits the contributions to 60% even though the Federal Return allows more.  When will TurboTax get this corrected?