Charitable Deductions

[mk223]

I am claiming the standard deduction for 2021. I read everywhere that for 2021 I can deduct for charitable deductions. However when I enter them in my turbotax software, it does not increase my refund at all. What am I doing wrong??

[ThomasM125]

It may be that you didn't have any taxable income before you entered the contributions, so you didn't have any income to be reduced when you entered them. Also, you may have had taxable income but you had credits that reduced your tax to $0.

You can look at your taxable income on line 15 of your form 1040 and your total tax on line 24 to see if one and/or the other is $0.

You can view your form 1040 while working in the online version of TurboTax by following these steps:

While working on your return in the Federal section of TurboTax:

   1.  Choose the Tax Tools icon on your left menu bar

   2.  Tools

   3.  View Tax Summary

   4.  Choose the Preview my 1040 on your left menu bar

[mk223]

Hi, thank you for the reply. No, my taxable income is definitely not showing $0, so that wouldn't be the problem.

I even removed the charitable contributions and re-added them and had no luck.

[FangxiaL]

When you previewed your Form 1040 as instructed by @ThomasM125, do you see $300/$600 on Line 12b of 1040?

Only cash donations up to $300/$600 can be deducted with the standard deduction.

@mk223

[FangxiaL]

The cash donation can not reduce self-employment tax either, only income tax. 

@mk223

[mk223]

So you are onto something here. I see $26 on line 12b. How do I get to that line in the program to change it? I have more than $26, however no matter where I go in there program I cannot edit that number.

[mk223]

I have tried to manually change it on the worksheet manually, it works until you run the smart check and it says it is an unacceptable value. Then it kicks the return amount back down to what it was before you had the charitable contributions.  I am ready to ask for a refund and try another software.

[LenaH · Accepted solution]

If you elect to take a charitable deduction on top of using the standard deduction (on Line 12b) you cannot enter this through the Itemized Deductions screens. 

Please follow the steps below to enter your charitable contribution in the correct place in TurboTax :

1. Open your return. 
2. Click on the Federal Taxes tab.
3. Click Deductions &Credits.
4. Click on I'll choose what I work on. 
5. Scroll down and click the Done with Deductions button.
6. Continue until you reach the Get a tax break for donating cash to charity screen.
7. Enter your charitable cash contributions.

@mk223

[abnjhrns]

why charitable deductions shoe errors

[MayaD]

Are you claiming the standard deduction?

If you’re receiving the error check message, enter the amount of donations you made up to the maximum limit per your filing status. Individuals can claim a deduction of up to $300 while Married individuals filing joint returns can claim up to $600.

[mk223 · Accepted solution]

Thank you, this worked for me.