Charitable donations with itemized return

[Greytguy]

My return is married, filing jointly, with itemized deductions.  AGI (Line 11) is $204,834,  Itemized deductions (12a) is $26,450, with zero charitable donations.  I originally had over $6,000 entered in charitable donations, but when I ran the review, I got the following error message: "1040/1040SR wks: charitable contributions: charitable contributions has unacceptable value." Charitable Contribution field had "300" in it.

I looked at the 1040/140Sr work sheet. Section 12 had our itemized deductions #, and 300 on line 12b- the number if I was taking a single standard deduction, Also, Box at top of Page 2, titled "Standard Deduction" has a box checked for "Spouse born before January 2, 1957".  This is true, but I don't understand how this has any bearing on charitable contributions, since we are itemizing deductions, and have more than the standard deduction.

I called the TT help line.  Agent had me delete ALL my itemized charitable contributions, AND zero out the standard deduction amount.  I didn't really understand her explanation why this needed to be done. Our return then passed review, but my refund was reduced by about $400 because of not having any charitable contributions.

Something doesn't seem right here.  I thought I had plenty of room under my AGI for $6,000 of charitable contributions, along with the other deductions. It seems like there is glitch in the software, given that the "Spouse Standard Deduction" box is checked, so the return is confused regarding my deduction selection- itemized versus standard.

Can someone help or clarify?

[DaveF1006]

Yes. Here is what you can do. You can enter all your deductions back into the return so you can claim your itemized deductions. If you were trying to claim the additional $300/$600 (if MFJ), cease and desist. You are not eligible for this deduction unless you are claiming the standard deduction.

it sounds like the agent zeroed out the $300 standard deduction amount, so you should be able to enter your itemized deductions back into your return. After entering, scroll through the entire deductions and credits section until you get to the very last screen.  There should not be a $300/$600 entry there. See if this works.

[Greytguy]

I was never trying to claim the $300/600 deduction, and never entered it.

As an experiment, I put $650 of itemized cash charitable contributions back in my return, and ran the review.  I got the following error message: "1040/1040SR Wks: Charitable contributions: Charitable contributions must be entered." followed by a blank field.  If I enter $650, I get another box that says the number must be $300 or 600.  When I look at the forms, 650 appears in Line 12a of the 1040/1040Sr worksheet (which I think is correct), but there is a red "zero" in 12b- as if it is looking for 300 or 600.

Again, I think something is corrupted in the basic personal information of my return.  The "Standard Deduction" box above still has a box checked for my wife being born before January 2, 1957.  Unless I can get rid of that, I don't think I can itemize my charitables.

I am giving serious consideration to starting a new return from scratch....

[JamesG1]

@Greytguy

Click on MyInfo on the left side of the screen.  Click Edit to the right of your spouse's name to review the date of birth for your spouse.

There may be a Federal 1040 line 12b Charitable Cash Contribution under CARES Act entered in your tax return.

In the online versions, Federal 1040 line 12b Charitable Cash Contributions under CARES Act can be entered or removed at either: 

• Federal Taxes / Deductions & Credits / Your tax breaks / Donations to Charity in 2021 or
• at the screen Charitable Cash Contributions under CARES Act immediately following Based on what you just told us, the Standard Deduction is best for you.

Make sure that you qualify for the standard deduction.  You may have to reduce the dollar amount of one or more deductions to make sure that you qualify for the standard deduction.  Then:

• Remove the entries at Donations to Charity in 2021 by deleting the entries.
• Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on Wrap up tax breaks.
• You will see the screen Based on what you just told us, the Standard Deduction is best for you.
• At the screen titled Charitable Cash Contributions under the CARES Act, make sure that the box contains the amount of the deduction for which you qualify.  It sounds like you want to itemize, so report $0.
• At Other Tax Situations, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on Let’s keep going.
• Continue through Review.

Go to Tax Tools / Tools / View Tax Summary / Preview my 1040 to view line 12b for the charitable deduction.

You have removed the offending charitable deduction.  Now go back and re-instate the deductions so you can qualify to itemize your deductions.

[Greytguy]

Deleting the info imported from last year's return, and starting from scratch, rather than just zeroing out the donation #s from the old charity info seems to have fixed the problem.  I was able to itemize my charitables, increase my refund, and the return passed review.

Thanks for the help!

[jpswimmer]

My return uses Itemized Deductions and they seem to me handled OK. But when the Final Review Smart Check is performed, the one and only error is the unexpected appearance of: "Check This Entry - 1040/1040SR Wks: Charitable contributions: Charitable contributions should be blank." The viewable box shows $600, and when that is deleted (as it should be), I press Continue and re-save for file for submission, immediately after which all appears OK and the final printed forms have that line 12b blank. BUT, after filing Federal (I am delaying the state as the deadline is later) and each time I re-open that file, that $600 gets put back in again by the program in the 1040/1040SR Wks, and the error return during the next Smart Check. Yes, I can—each time—delete the $600 entry again after a Smart Check sees it, but why does it keep reappearing?  I think it's a bug, but if I knew how to master it, I'd feel better. [Running version updated 4/8/2022, 2021.r25.089 on Mac]

[agamIsaac]

Donations itemized on Scedule A don’t show on 1040

[BrittanyS]

The Schedule A will only show on the 1040 if you total itemized deductions exceeds the standard deduction amount.  The standard deduction for 2024 is $14,600 for single or married filing separate filers, $21,900 for head of household status, and $29,200 for married filing joint filers.