I have a substantial amount donated to charity this year, but it is not affecting my refund at all. Is there a reason for this?

[ChristinaS]

Charity can be not impacting your return due to a variety of reasons. We don't have access to your data, so we can only guess. How much are we talking about here? Like over 1/2 of your income?

[ChristinaS · Accepted solution]

In order to benefit from charity, your total itemized deductions (charity, real estate taxes, state or sales taxes, mortgage interest, etc.) need to be greater than the standard deduction.

The standard deduction is $6300 Single/ Married Separate, $12,600 Married Joint, $9300 Head of Household.

The standard deduction is automatically applied unless you inform Turbo Tax not to do so. As such, the charity won't kick in until all of your itemized deductions go over the standard.

Have you entered all your itemized deductions already? Take a look at your 1040 to see if you are itemizing:

• My Account
• Tools
• View Tax Summary
• Preview 1040
• Scroll down to line 40 and compare that against the standard
• Also take a look at line 45, in case the Alternative Minimum Tax is playing a role on your return

Charity is also limited to income based on income- either itemized deductions are phased out due to high income or charity is limited as its too great compared to income.