$600 cash charitable contributions (Tax Year 2021)

[TheRealTax2]

Changing value back to 600 at the error window and then skipping 2nd check worked. I was able to e-file while maintaining the 600 value on the fed 1040. I would advise that you read your state tax form instructions to be sure you're not required to adjust for the 600 deduction if you take this route. My state didn't mention it, unlike last year where the 300 contribution had to be added back on state return. Good luck guys. 

[scottxray]

So, today, after receiving some of my final tax forms (1099- HSA) and interest statements  from different sources I reran the program, and paid  particular attention to the AZ form.

The AZ form asks you to enter your total charitable deductions.   It also asks how much of the state tax credit for those contributions you will claim, and subtracts that amount from the total contributions.  It will then calculate how much the other contributions would reduce your state tax if you are not itemizing the Federal form, and  reduces your state tax that amount.   However, it disallows any contribution that is NOT listed on the Schedule A. 

Therefore you MUST enter the charitable contributions on schedule A in order to get the correct state tax if you are not  itemizing federally.

This results in the same issue occurring again with the $300, instead of the $600 amount being entered on the 1040 worksheet and on the 1040, after the final review done after the state tax is done.   The $600 figure is correct on both forms until the state tax is done. 

This time, even WORSE, the final review did NOT flag it as an Error and said everything was correct, and simply miscalculated the federal tax, thereby reducing my refund by $66.  When I looked at the forms after the review the 1040wks did show the 300 figure as an error.     I then corrected the figure to the correct $600 and did not redo the review and the federal refund regained the missing $66.  

Frankly, it appears that some change may have done to this process which actually made things even worse. 

I am extremely disappointed.

[KrisD15]

Please return to the Deductions & Credits section, scroll down to "Charitable Donations" and DELETE any cash entries you made there. 

(NOTE: Some states allow you to Itemize Deductions when taking the Standard Deduction on the Federal Return. To include charitable donations as an Itemized Deduction on your STATE return, you can enter the donations as "Items" select "I'll value them, select "Other intangible property" enter the description as cash if it was and the amount as the value.)

Go back through the review. The program will ask you for your charity donation again although it may not be until AFTER THE STATE RETURN is complete and at the END of the FINAL REVIEW.  (After the "Tax Summary for 2021" screen)

 Enter the amount up to 600 Married Filing Joint.

The Tax law allows a Taxpayer to claim Charity Donations on their Schedule A or, if using the Standard Deduction, on their 1040 line 12b as an addition to their Standard Deduction amount. 

This amount can be up to 600 for Married Filing Joint, or 300 for all others.

[scottxray]

As I said earlier, Arizona requires you to enter your charitable deductions on Federal schedule A , and will not allow you to deduct them if they aren't listed.   Your suggestion to remove all the Schedule A cash deductions is simply another workaround to try to get Turbotax to work properly, and does not solve the problem.

The problem lies in the Program , not in how we input the deductions!  

Again, the federal review alone will pass without error and correctly figure the tax.   The state tax review will also complete without error.   It is only the final review of both forms together that causes the incorrect figure of $300 for the charitable contribution to be placed in the 1040wks, which then changes the tax calculation.

Whatever has been done to the program regarding this, within the last few days,  now does not only NOT flag the error introduced in the final review, but also proceeds to allow the Federal tax to be higher than initially  calculated.  The max return guarantee is broken.  I have filed my final taxes by correcting the error manually after the final review.   I will probably not use turbo tax next year due to this.

Fix the program! 

[KrisD15]

My post has the donations entered on the screens that flow to the Schedule A, just don't enter cash. Enter everything as "Items".

Enter under Deductions & Credits, Charity Donations ITEMS

Unless the amount of donations you can deduct is limited by your income, listing cash as items makes no difference to the software and the amount is transferred to the state return. The state return treats donated Items the same as donated cash, as long as your cash donations are not limited. 

I can only offer this as a solution at this time. 

[eieio1]

I had the exact same problem you did, I finally got the federal corrected and ran its check, but when I ran the check on the state, the federal amount changed to the wrong amount.  So I went back into the federal and corrected it the same way again, but this time I did not run its check again.  Then I finished the state.  (Someone on this blog wrong these instructions a short while ago.)  Before I will send it, I manually checked the federal and it's fine.   I have not checked our state's, yet - will do so in the next few days.  (TurboTax had a similiar problem last year and didn't fix it.  I can do a return by hand much faster than spending hours on various TT errors every year.  I understand taxes.)  A thing I thought of doing, is to fix and check the federal and send & save it separately.  Then do the state, check, save & send it.   Good luck...

[scottmcn807]

But it wont let me transmit my returns.... once I change the contributions to $600.

[CarissaM]

What is the error when you try to transmit the return? @scottmcn807

If you would like immediate assistance, please click here to contact us by phone. 

[bethgaryb]

Had the same issue. When I went to Form view, it showed $300, even though we are filing MJ. It flagged as an error. I corrected it to $600. When I ran smart check again, it reverted to $300. So, don't do that.

[JamesG1]

In TurboTax Desktop version, follow these steps to enter the Federal 1040 line 12b Charitable Cash Contributions under CARES Act.

 Go to Forms mode and delete the incorrect entry for line 12b on the 1040 Worksheet.

• Return to Step-by-Step and click on Federal Taxes / Deductions & Credits / I'll Choose what I work on but do not enter the charitable donation.
• Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on Done with Deductions.
• You will see the screen The Standard Deduction is right for you!  Click Continue.
• At the screen titled Getting a tax break for donating cash to charity, make sure that the box contains the amount of the deduction for which you qualify.  Click Continue.
• At Other Tax Situations, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on Done with Other.
• Continue through Federal Review and Smart Check. 

Go to Forms to view the Federal 1040 line 12b for the charitable deduction.

[MendhamUser]

Help me too!  I'm having the same problem.

How the heck can I edit Line 12b from $300 to $600.  I can't figure it out.

And why doesn't TT put those amounts $4300 Single, $600 MFJ) in their notes?!?

[MendhamUser]

I'm stuck with $300 in Line 12b.

How can I change that to $600??

Thanks for any help.

[AnnetteB6]

For the 2021 tax return using the Married Filing Joint filing status, you are allowed to deduct up to $600 in cash contributions to charity without claiming itemized deductions.

If you are using the Married Filing Joint filing status AND using the standard deduction:

As you go through your Federal return and you have entered your charitable contributions, you will not see any additional questions regarding your inputs.  If your state return also allows you to deduct charitable contributions, then the amounts you entered will be taken into account on your state return. 

After you have finished your state return and you are getting ready to file, when you run the final Review, you will probably see this message:

1040/1040SR Wks:  Charitable Contributions:  Charitable contributions has an unacceptable value

You will also see a place at the top of the screen for Charitable contributions with '300' in the box.  Below that box, you can see your Form 1040 line 12a which shows the amount of your cash contributions that you already entered. 

If your line 12a is greater or equal to $600, enter '600' in the box at the top of the screen.

If your line 12a is less than $600, enter your line 12a amount in the box at the top of the screen.

After changing the input at the top of the screen to the correct value, proceed through any other errors that may pop up and then move forward to file your return.  It is very important that you do not revisit any other section of your return before you file or the change may not be retained or able to be changed a second time.

See the screenshot below for reference:

@MendhamUser

[LorenSalem]

how do I take advantage of the $300 deduction for contributions when using the standard deduction? 

[AamilD]

Please follow the steps below to enter Donations under the CARES Act:

1. Click on Tax Home from the left side menu.
2. Click on Deductions & Credits from the main screen.
3. Scroll to the very bottom and you should see an option for "Wrap up tax breaks".
4. On he next page you should see a page titled "Get a tax break for donating cash to charity" . On this screen, you can enter the information.