Do charitable donations reduce the tax amount? I just reduced my total contribution which didn't reduce the tax.

Charitable donations are an itemized deduction. You may get a tax benefit if the total of all your itemized deductions is more than the standard deduction for your filing status. Several itemized deductions were eliminated or capped with the new 2018 tax laws. Standard deductions were nearly doubled from last year. So many filers who previously itemized deductions will not need to on their 2018 tax return because the standard deduction is so large.

Here are the standard deductions:

Single - $12,000 add $1,600 if age 65 or older

Married Filing Separately - $12,000 add $1,300 if age 65 or older

Married Filing Jointly - $24,000 add $1,300 for each spouse age 65 or older

Head of Household - $18,000 add $1,600 if age 65 or older

Many thanks - very helpful