I donated many, many items in multiple trips. Do I need to make an entry item by item for each trip?

[Bsch4477]

Use categories like household items, electronics, clothes, bric-a-brac. 

[mpugarte]

That would still leave me with many entries per day as each trip had mixed items.  Can I enter the total per day and list the items in the description?

[Bsch4477]

Yes, you can do that. 

[Opus 17]

If the total of non-cash items is more than $500, turbotax will prepare for you a form 8283 which lists the date, place donated, and value of each item.  You can still use a generic description ("used household items", for example) but you must separate your donations by date.  You must also have your own detailed itemized lists in sufficient detail that you can prove the values if audited.  Turbotax will not provide that proof for you. 

Also be aware that you can't claim more than $5000 as the value for any single item or "group of similar items" unless you have a signed appraisal by a qualified appraiser, and you also have a signature from a financially responsible official of the donee organization confirming the donation.  There is no black letter definition of "group of similar items" but if you have more than $5000 of used household items, and you try and break it up into smaller groups ("used kitchen items", used bathroom items" and so on) you might have a hard time sustaining the deduction if you are selected for audit. 

[mpugarte]

The max per day is about $1,800.  I do have the detail listing which I prepared as I packed things to take to the donation center.  It also has the quantities and I have pics of what was packed or from when the items were in our house.  We have downsized to 1/3 size of where we were so I had to get rid of a lot of stuff.

I have separated the donations by date and listed the items in the description.  For example:

DATE       DESCRIPTION

08/20       DVDs, green porcelain platers, plastic planters, Jack & Jill decor, garden statue.

My receipt has the quantities and individual values.  In the TurboTax value entry though, I put the total value.  

[Opus 17]

@mpugarte 

Not maximum per day, maximum per year.  

Turbotax will prepare form 8283 if your non-cash donations are more than $500, and Turbotax will allow you to file the form no matter what you put on it.  But if the total is more than $5000, expect the IRS to review it.

If you didn't know the rules ahead of time, and you file without the appraisal and signatures, your deductions are at significant risk.  You would have been better off having an estate sale and donating the cash.

See IRS publication 526.

https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-publication-526

Deduction over $5,000. You must complete Section B of Form 8283 for each item or group of similar items for which you claim a deduction of over $5,000. The organization that received the property must complete and sign Part V of Section B, Form 8283.

Deduction over $5,000.

You must complete Section B of Form 8283 for each item or group of similar items for which you claim a deduction of over $5,000. In figuring whether your deduction for a group of similar items was more than $5,000, consider all items in the group, even if items in the group were donated to more than one organization. However, you must file a separate Form 8283, Section B, for each organization. The organization that received the property must complete and sign Part V of Section B.

For donations of non-cash items over $5000, 

If you claim a deduction of over $5,000 for a noncash charitable contribution, you must have a contemporaneous written acknowledgment from the charity, obtain a qualified written appraisal of the donated property from a qualified appraiser, and complete Form 8283. 

In addition to, or in lieu of, the items described in Deductions Over $500 but Not Over $5,000 earlier, your completed Form 8283 must include:

1. The qualified organization’s taxpayer identification number, signature, the date signed by the qualified organization, and the date the qualified organization received the property;

2. The appraiser’s name, address, taxpayer identification number, appraiser declaration, signature, and the date signed by the appraiser; and

3. The following additional information about the contributed property:

   1. The FMV on the valuation effective date; and

   2. A statement explaining whether the charitable contribution was made by means of a bargain sale and, if so, the amount of any consideration received for the contribution.

[mpugarte]

No item or group of similar items is even close to $5K.  The total for the year in 11 trips might be slightly over $5K.