I am using the free edition of Turbo Tax. I have entered a significant amount of tax deductible charity donations, however I have not received any tax breaks. Any advice?

[rjs · Accepted solution]

Charitable donations are an itemized deduction. They will not affect your tax unless your total itemized deductions are more than your standard deduction. The standard deduction depends on your filing status, age, and other factors. For 2018, if you are under 65 the basic standard deduction is $12,000 if you are filing as single and $24,000 if you are filing as married filing jointly. See the FAQ at the following link for other situations. If the charitable donations are your only itemized deductions, the total charitable donations have to be more than your standard deduction in order to make any difference in your tax.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/2568848-what-s-my-standard-deduction-for-2018

If you do have itemized deductions that exceed your standard deduction, you cannot use Free Edition. It will tell you that you have to upgrade to Deluxe in order to claim itemized deductions.