Charitable Contributions Deduction

[Jo97]

I am married filing jointly and am taking the standard deduction. I understand that there is $300 allowed for charitable contributions per the Cares Act but the Turbo Tax program is saying it was not allowed? I'm confused why is this? 

[MinhT1]

For 2020, you are allowed to deduct up to $300 ($150 if Married filing Separately) of cash donations to 501(c)3 organizations even if you do not itemize your deductions.

In order to take this above-the-line deduction, enter your donation(s) under Deductions & Credits > Charitable Donations > Donations to Charities in 2020.  The deduction will be added above-the-line by TurboTax after you have completed the Wrap up tax breaks interview in TurboTax if you take the Standard deduction.

On your form 1040, this deduction appears on line 10b - Charitable contributions if you take the standard deduction.

[Jo97]

So are you saying I'm not allowed the $300 Charitable Contributions Deduction per the Cares Act because I'm Married Filing Jointly? 

[Jo97]

Sorry I read that wrong. It looks like I'm entitled to the $300 deduction from the reply you sent. Why is Turbo Tax saying it's not allowed?

[ToddL99]

To get past this error, try deleting what is in the Charitable Cash Contributions under Cares Act page. TurboTax can carry your original donation amount to this line for you. 

To do this in TurboTax, assuming you entered cash donations in TurboTax already separate from this entry, follow these steps:

• From the left menu, select Federal.
• Go to the second tab from the left, Deductions & Credit.
• Scroll down to Donations to Charity in 2020 and select Edit/Add to review what is listed and confirm it is correct.
• Select Done with Charitable Donations.
• Answer any additional questions and select Wrap up tax breaks and continue through the prompts.
• When  you see Charitable Cash Contributions under Cares Act, highlight the contents of the cell before deleting it so that it is truly blank and delete the entry. 
• Select Continue.
   
• Repeat Wrap up tax breaks to get the optimizer to verify you should take the standard deduction. 
• When you see the Charitable Cash Contributions under Cares Act page, you should see your full donation amount posted here already. This is fine. 

To see what will be reported, 

• Go to the left menu and select Tax Tools.
• Select Tools and View Tax Summary. 
• Go back to the left menu and select Preview my 1040.
• Scroll down to Line 10b. You should see 300.
• To return to your program, select Back from the left menu.
• Continue with your Review.

@KathrynG3

[Jo97]

Thank you!