I filed using standard deduction the last three years this year i can itemize but i am having problems with charitable donation carry overs.

[xmasbaby0]

If you used standard deduction you do not have any charity carryovers.   You cannot enter charity donations from past years when you used the standard deduction.

[SteamTrain]

I wondered about that apparently there is a narrow exception...from what I've been reading:

Knowledge Base Solution - Will charitable contributions carryover when using the standard deduction ...

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1) if you used Std Deduction last year, you lose any possible charitable carryover from year(s) prior to that.

But, you are itemizing this year. 

2)  So you "Might" be able to use a charitable carryover from just last year's donations....but only the $$ that "would have" carried over , IF you had used itemized deductions last year  (with no other prior carryovers allowed)

[Following edited significantly 6 Jan 2024}

3)    If ALL donations for 2022 were cash, check, CCD $$, and only made to so-called 50% charities, then the $$ amount that exceeded  60% of your 2022 AGI can be used this year (2023) as a cash carryover $$ amount.   So the initial thing to check is this...did the value of your 2022 cash donations last year, exceed 60% of your 2022 AGI (line 11 of your 2022  Form 1040....NOT line 15). 

4)  However....If some of the donation total value was from donated stock, securities, or "items" (clothing, cars, appliances etc) or if any of the $$ went to donor advised funds or to so-called 30% charities ( there are even some 20% orgs)...then there could be carryover at lower levels...BUT the calculation of the possible carryover amounts would be too complicated to describe.  It could be calculated in the 2022 desktop software, by using a second copy of your 2022 taxes, and forcing "itemized" deductions...and seeing what the carryover would-have been for each donation %-limited type.

 ... AND you'd better have good records of the 2022 donations and the 2022 carryover calculation worksheet.

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But I'm not an expert in this...only what I've read in the reference above (and it's a couple year old)....and several other google search results that "seemed" reputable.   And maybe you already decided not to bother.

[SteamTrain]

@djsabyler 

I realized at 3:30 AM that some of my initial response was off-base...and I've edited significantly...above.

And of course....its still subject to further editing...but perhaps you've already decided it's not worth the effort.

So yeah...I'm still not an expert in the situation you presented.

[tom_tijeras]

What is the IRS reference that states that charitable contributions cannot be carried over from years in which one itemizes?  According to 26CFR 1.170A-10(a)(2): "The carryover provisions apply with respect to contributions made during a taxable year in excess of the applicable percentage limitation even though the taxpayer elects under section 144 to take the standard deduction in that year instead of itemizing the deduction allowable in computing taxable income for that year."

from https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/26/1.170A-10

This seems to state that charitable carryovers (subject to the other limitations) are allowed from years in which one itemizes.

[IsabellaG]

Yes, charitable deduction carryovers are allowed when the taxpayer itemizes in the year of the contribution. A carryover is also allowed when the the customer did not itemize, and instead used the Standard Deduction.

I don't see anywhere where you lose your contribution carryover if you used the Standard Deduction in an intervening year, only that you need to adjust your carryover for what you would have claimed in the year had you itemized. The link that @SteamTrain provided says "Charitable contributions (current & carryovers) are calculated for the current year regardless if the standard deduction is used or Sch A is used .  The amount that will carryover to the following year is going to be the same with a Sch A or the standard deduction."

 The second sentence, "If the customer takes the standard deduction they are losing current year and carryover contributions they may have been allowed had they chosen to itemize." seems to be simply referring to the fact that if you didn't itemize, you didn't deduct that contribution or carryover in that year, not that you lose the opportunity to carry that contribution to a subsequent year. 

IRS Publication 526 refers to this situation, but on page 19 states  "Special rules exist for computing carryovers if you: • Are married in some years but not others, • Have different spouses in different years, • Change from a separate return to a joint return in a later year, • Change from a joint return to a separate return in a later year, • Have a net operating loss, • Claim the standard deduction in a carryover year, or • Become a surviving spouse. Because of their complexity and the limited number of taxpayers to whom these additional rules apply, they aren't discussed in this publication. If you need to figure a carryover and you are in one of these situations, you may want to consult with a tax practitioner."

Example 2 in this link from Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute shows a calculation where the carryover to a year when the taxpayer chose the Standard Deduction  is applied to recalculate the carryover to the following year when the taxpayer itemizes. It's not a perfect example for us, because the carryover gets used up in the year of the Standard Deduction is chosen, but it does demonstrate the principle involved. And this link from Thomson Reuters explains how this works under Five-Year Contribution Carryover.