2021 Charitable deduction issue with review

[TracyS1]

With married filing jointly I believe the Charitable contribution credit is supposed to be $600.  I get the $600 under the federal review but when turbo tax reviews both federal and state at the end the $600 is changed to $300.  Is this a known bug in turbo tax that is being fixed?

Thanks

[AamilD]

It depends. There may be multiple reasons why you may not be getting the $600 Charitable Deduction.

The first reason may be that part of the charitable deduction you are are trying to deduct may not be a cash donation. Per the IRS guidelines, only cash donations up to $600 qualify so it is possible that you may be getting the $300 donation deduction for the cash portion and the remainder may not be a cash donation. When you input the donation information, there is an option to indicate that this is a Money donation.

The second reason with the assumption being that the entire $600 is a cash donation would be that you will have to go to the very end of the return for it to give you the entire $600 deduction. Since this deduction is only available for individuals who take Standard Deduction, TurboTax is not sure that you are taking the Standard Deduction until the Final Review.

Once you have reviewed both of the options stated above, you can review your return to make sure you are getting the correct deduction.

You can view your entire return or just your 1040 form before you e-file:

1. Open or continue your return.
2. Select Tax Tools in the left menu (if you don't see this, select the menu icon in the upper-left corner).
3. With the Tax Tools menu open, you can then:
   • Preview your entire return: Select Print Center and then Print, Save, or Preview This Year's Return (you may be asked to register or pay first).
   • View only your 1040 form: Select Tools. Next, select View Tax Summary in the pop-up, then Preview my 1040 in the left menu. This will allow you to view your 1040 form without paying.

[TracyS1]

HI Thanks.  Couple of question.  In turbo tax there is a federal review.  When this federal review is completed, I assume it knows that I am taking the standard deduction.  At that point I am still receiving the 600 cash contribution after the federal review has been completed.  After State review is completed turbo tax does a final review.  It is at the final review stage that the 600 is changed back to 300.   Are there any other limits on the 600 besides cash.  I have more than $600 listed as cash contributions.  

[DawnC]

What state are you filing a state return for?   And are you using the desktop software or the Online version?  You are saying that Line 12b shows $600 after the Federal review, but then Line 12b changes to $300 after you do the state review?   Have you double checked that you are in fact filing Married filing Jointly (as opposed to Married Filing Separately or Head of Household) on the federal return and that you and your spouse are listed on the return with social security numbers?    And is the Standard Deduction Amount on Line 12a correct?  ($25,100 for non-blind under 65 year-olds).   The donations being in cash is the only requirement besides taking the standard deduction on Form 1040 and the organization being qualified. 

For this year, even if you don’t itemize, you may take a charitable deduction of up to $300 ($600 if married filing jointly) for cash contributions made in 2021 to qualified organizations.  it’s important to note that cash contributions to most charitable organizations qualify, but cash contributions made either to supporting organizations or to establish or maintain a donor advised fund, do not.  Nor do cash contributions to private foundations and most cash contributions to charitable remainder trusts.

[DawnC]

Something else to try also.   On the Deductions and Credits tab, scroll to the bottom and click on Wrap up Tax Breaks or Done with Deductions (depending on your version).   

[TracyS1]

Thanks for your reply.  I was on phone with support for over two hours.  All is input correctly.  In the end I was told I have to wait until state is updated by intuit before any further diagnosis can be completed.  Crazy when federal return says done all correct and shows correct 600. Than changes with final review before E-file.  I believe there is a bug in final review re the 600 deduction.  However nothing is going to happen until after intuit has states updates completed.  

[TracyS1]

All. This has been somewhat resolved.  After my state was updated an update was made to the final review.  The final review changes the 600 to 300 in error than you get an error message to go back and change back to 600.  After the 600 is manually input turbo tax says no errors.  Wrong way to fix the issue but at least e-file will now be correct.  

[tax6]

I am having the same issue.  I'm using the TurboTax software downloaded onto my PC.  I don't qualify for the standard deduction.  As soon as I get to the Federal Review, it's say the  $300 is not acceptable. I'm filing Married filing jointly.  

[TracyS1]

Not sure if you saw post this morning

  after my state was updated I ran final review.  Final review changed 600 to 300 but you get an error message to manually change back to 600. Than all is good.  Stupid fix but works