Grouping many small Goodwill donations into a single entry

[PerpetuallyConfused]

I make donations to Goodwill about once a month. Nothing I donate is worth a lot, so I guess the total value for each box of stuff I donate. The total estimated value of all my donations in 2024 was about $400. TT seems to want me to enter dates and descriptions for every donation I made, and I don't want to do that. I just want to enter $400 on line 12 of Schedule A and be done with it. If the IRS wants to audit me, we can go through my receipts then.

When I enter $400 on line 12 of Schedule A in TT, it takes it, but the value and the box are in red, and the $400 is not included in the total on line 14. I don't care about the red text or box, but I do care about the fact that the $400 is not included on line 14. How can I get TT to let me lump all my Goodwill donations together and add their total value to line 14 of Schedule A?

[KrisD15 · Accepted solution]

You can enter any date, select any category and enter $400.00.

The answers to the questions are not reported on your tax return, they are only used for the TurboTax worksheet. 

The $400 is listed on Schedule A line 12 and carries to line14.

Just a note, if any one donated property was valued at more than $500, or any one cash donation of $250 or more was made, documentation may be required. 

[PerpetuallyConfused]

This is a practical workaround, I guess, and thank you for it, but isn't there some way to tell TT, "I know what I'm doing, just use the number on this line that I've typed in"?

[AnnetteB6]

Not really.  You typically have to go through the questions on the screen to get to the end result.  This helps to preserve the TurboTax accurate calculation guarantee.  

We can sometimes give you information about workarounds or shortcuts to use, but there is not a shortcut to going through the questions that TurboTax asks.  They are there for a reason.  

@PerpetuallyConfused