Analysis tool changes $600 (joint) cash charity deduction to $300.

[sdcoffeeroaster]

Since I am not itemizing, filling jointly and have made a $700. charity contribution for 2021.  If I run analysis at the end it changes this to $300.  Then if I run smart check it flags this $300. amount and is corrected by me manually to $600. then smart check is happy.  But if I run analysis again before I e-file, it will once again change it to $300.  Which one is correct and why are they having this fight?  A bug perhaps?  I tried to contact turbo tax by phone and only spoke to a stubborn and rude robot that was clueless, lol.

[DaveF1006]

It depends. Are you trying to manually put $600 under charitable deductions. If so, do not enter charitable deductions here. The program will/should automatically calculate this for you. I discovered this in my own test program.

1. Check your program. Go to federal>deductions and credits. Run through the complete section.  When you get to a screen that informs you that the standard deduction is right for you, the very next screen should have the $600 deduction or the opportunity to enter that amount here.
2. Also check tax tools>tools>view tax summary
3. Preview your 1040 in the left pane of the window and see if that $600 contribution appears in Line 12(B).
4. Ignore the smart check and see if you can efile if the $600 contribution does show up in line 12(B) of the 1040.

[sdcoffeeroaster]

Well I was able to get $600. to "stick" by not doing analysis as the last step.  I ran smart check and it flagged the $300. for me and I changed it to $600. right in the form. The amount of the return was increased and by not running analysis again it stayed put and I e-filed.  So running analysis was the problem for me and smart check did what it was supposed to do.

I'm not sure but the first time I ran the program and I took the std deduction it told me about the $300. (but not $600. for filing jointly) deduction, can't remember.  So I think I took the $300. even though I had contributed $700. 

I don't want to run thru that entire section again but seems like analysis should be as smart as the smart tool and not put an incorrect amount in after the smart tool helped correct the error?  Just a bit buggy or use whatever word you like, it's a mistake that analysis is making after everything was corrected using smart tool.   Analysis has always been my last step before filing and now I do not trust it anymore.  At any rate someone that prefers to enter things manually (and this is allowed and OK for everything else) can easily get cheated out of a $300. deduction and never know it.  I was curious enough to look online to find that joint filers could get $600. and I was alerted to the issue.

[JohnB5677]

For 2021 TY, you can claim an "above-the-line" cash donation of

up to $300 for singles and $600 if married for cash donations made to charity.

In Turbo Tax, the amount of cash donation will be posted only if the you have not entered the cash donation in the “charity” section and only if you use the "standard deduction”.

You must click the “Wrap up tax breaks” at the bottom right of the Deductions & Credits page.

You will be asked the question 

1. Let’s Check for Charitable Donations

2. Did you donate to charity?

3. Answer NO … Continue through the interview

4. Get a tax break for donating cash to charity

5. Post $300 or $600 as appropriate

[sdcoffeeroaster]

In step #3 you've listed I should say NO I have not donated to charity when I know I have?  Am I understanding you correctly that I must answer that initial question wrongly to get the program to work correctly, lol?  Does this really seem right to you and how would any user know to do this?

It's a moot point now since I was able to get my e-file done correctly once I saw what the program was doing.  This part of the program is buggy if a random user can cause it to screw up thru manual entry which the program allows. 

Yes I understand if I follow YOUR specific steps it should come out right and will take your word for that (spent too much time on this already and I don't work for Intuit).  I tried another sample entry following the program steps rather than manual entry and instead when the program asked for my charity contribution I entered $700. cash which is the fact of the matter.  The program then took $600. of that correctly for my joint return. 

At the end when I ran analysis thru the normal step-by step process, this time it first changed the $600 to $300 (I could see the refund go down) but then it did flag this change it had made as an error, lol.  Why it changed the correct $600. to $300 to cause the error is not my problem.  Maybe this is a feature to give it something to correct, lol?  And with this I am done trying to convince you that this is buggy and can be easily caused to submit a return with an error.

[DaveF1006]

The only time this $600 (or $300) should be entered into program is  to go to federal>deductions and credits. Continue through the screens and then at the end when the program determines the Standard Deduction is right for you, the next screen will allow you to enter the correct amount of the contribution. 

Entering the amount in charitable deductions (Step 3) is not correct because the program will assume you are entering an itemized deduction amount that cannot be claimed because the Standard Deduction is the better deduction to take. This brings much confusion to the worksheets and causes error messages when you perform your reviews. 

[twtillotson]

I encountered the same problem you describe... $600 on 1040 line 12b (presumably set because I entered individual contributions as if I were going to itemize) was changed to $300 after running REVIEW.

I investigated because I luckily noticed my refund amount was "magically" reduced after the REVIEW completed.

I plan to use the "workaround" you describe... avoid running REVIEW before e-file.