How do I fix my charitable contributions? It says I have an unacceptable value.

[e_w_g]

Update: fixed the issue! 

Someone else gave me the idea. I'm restating in the way I was able to do it. 

In the online version, I went back to Deductions tab. All the way back so that it asked me the initial questions to determine the deductions. It prompted me to take the standard deduction but I elected to itemize anyway (button at the bottom). Then I added the names of each charity plus the amounts donated in 2020 (> $300). 

I was prompted again to take the standard deductions which I agreed to. Fast forward to the charitable donation tab, this time the correct amount (> 300) is pre-populated in the text bar. This is how I knew the problem had been solved. Filed smoothly from there. No more "unacceptable value" for 10b.

Hope this helps anyone who was still struggling! 

[Lux2222]

It's pretty bad that Turbo Tax has left this issue for over a month.  As the first post is from the end of January and I just encountered it on March 7th.

The literal only reason for me to fork over money to you people is to make this fast, easy and convenient. All of the other supposed benefits I just gave you $100 for are BS and we all know it.

 When you start wasting my time looking up how to deal with obvious software bugs on your help forums you've negated the purpose of the service entirely.

Let me also point out that the forum expert's solutions .... DON'T WORK and it was regular users who figured out the actual solution. I'm sorry but what is your staff doing?

Seriously considering not using TURBOTAX anymore. I can stop being lazy and type my name and information into one of the free programs and get it done myself. 

[yasmin8180]

In my case, somehow! thanks heaven! it had to do with the carry over from 2019 which is wrong for this software to do. It shouldn't be carrying over that type of information and then make it so complicated to correct! 

So! even though you enter 0, it keeps kicking you back to it because the line above it on the 1040 Form might be carrying a number. I was able to go back to that topic and delete the carried over donation from 2019 which I'm not even sure I made to begin with.

Good luck people! We need to find a different option. TaxAct is pretty ok.

[yasmin8180]

That did not do it for me.

[KrisD15]

TurboTax ONLINE

Click Tax Tools on the left side bar

Click Tools from the drop-down

Click the "Topic Search" box on the screen

Type or scroll down to    standard deduction and exemptions

Click GO 

The next screen gives you an option to change your selection from Standard to Itemized and back. You do not need to change your selection

Scroll down to the bottom of that screen and click CONTINUE

The next screen is the Charitable Cash Contributions under Cares Act screen

IF YOU ARE CLAIMING STANDARD DEDUCTION enter the amount of cash contributions you made, up to  300

IF YOU ARE ITEMIZING DEDUCTIONS enter 0

Scroll down and click Continue

Click Continue on the next screen

DESKTOP

Go to Step-By-Step input (top right corner of screen)

Click Federal

Click Deductions & Credits along the top

Click “I’ll choose what I work on”

Edit or Update Donations to Charity in 2020 if needed, then click “Done with Charitable Donations”

Scroll down the “Your 2020 Deductions & Credits” screen and click “Done with Deductions”

Click Continue on the “Let’s Check Your Deductions and Credits” screen

Continue through the following interview questions until you get to the “Here Are Your 2020 Deductions & Credits” screen

Click Continue

If the next screen says “The Standard deduction is Right for You!” click Continue

ON THE NEXT SCREEN enter the cash contribution made in 2020 up to 300 and click Continue

Your 1040 should update

“The new "up to $300 above the line cash charity donation" is available for tax year 2020. This allows a Taxpayer to claim up to a $300 credit which is subtracted from income on the 1040 line 10c if the Taxpayer is claiming the Standard Deduction. (If you Itemize Deductions, all your donations will be listed on Schedule A.) “

[cguthrie9]

this still didn't work

[MaryM428]

The "trick" to this is that you have go back through deductions and credits so TurboTax realizes that you are taking a standard deduction.  Here are the steps to follow:

1. Click Deductions and Credits
2. Go through the screens until you come to Wrap Up Tax Breaks
   If the standard deduction is chosen you will see a screen that asks Any Charitable Contributions?
3. Make sure that $300 or correct amount  is filled in and then click Continue
4. Click Lets Keep Going

This deduction is only for cash donation to a charity and only applies if you take the standard deduction.

[allylovich]

can someone fix this. It's ridiculous. Been trying to file for days now.

[Robert Pinto]

I edited the forms directly as a workaround for the case of Itemized Deductions and a cash contribution. Go to Form 1040/1040SR. On the insertion line next to the bold area between lines 10a and 10b, enter the total for your cash contributions. Then, on line 10 b, insert a blank by highlighting the entry and hitting return. 

[grushko]

Hi,

I have the same problem. Please post a solution for download version of TurboTax.

I called Intuit 3 times and the calls get disconnected when they realize they cant help. They also don't acknowledge there is an issue.

All workarounds listed in this thread do not work.

[grushko]

Hi,

I have the same problem. Please post a solution for download version of TurboTax.

I called Intuit 3 times and the calls get disconnected when they realize they cant help. They also don't acknowledge there is an issue.

All workarounds listed in this thread do not work.

[Cynthiad66]

 Yes. There is an issue with the contributions deduction and TurboTax is working to fix it.  We do not have an estimated date of correction, at this time.  I suggest you check back often to see if the correction has been made.

There is a problem with the Contributions section of the Itemized deductions and also the above the line $300.00 deduction.  Because of the many changes due to the CARES Act, IRS is still developing the forms and publications on this issue.  Last update was January 13th where everything is still in draft.  Once IRS finalizes the forms, we will be able to update TurboTax to accurately reflect your Contributions deduction.

Here are some of the changes due to the CARES ACT

The new legislation allows tax deductions on two types of charitable gifts. First, it allows up to $300 given to a qualified charity to be claimed as an above-the-line deduction. After the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which went into effect in 2018, increased the standard deduction, many taxpayers had less incentive to donate to charities. Instead, they took the standard deduction and stopped itemizing.

For taxpayers who will itemize deductions, the CARES Act effectively suspends the limit on deductions for cash contributions to public charities for 2020.  “That allows individuals to completely wipe out their AGI, and their tax liability, with a charitable contribution.

[grushko]

Thanks for confirming!

However, it would be prudent to send an intra-office memo to let ALL Intuit employees know that there IS in fact an issue with software. I called Intiut 3 times and all 3 agents assured me that there is no issue with software even after I showed them this forum (I shared my screen with them). One of them was even arguing with me that I need a "tax advice" rather then a tech support and forcing me to pay for Live service. All three calls were terminated after they couldn't provide support and acknowledging the issue. It is very disappointing and concerning to say the least.

[dszqqjf]

I ran across this same (or similar) problem today.  It started at the "Checking your return..." step for my Federal return.  It took me to an error on some behind-the-scenes worksheet for Form 1040 line 10b for "Charitable contributions if you take the standard deduction".  The was blank and it was saying that's not allowed.  I tried entering $0 and it said that wasn't allowed.  Then I tried entering the total of my charitable contributions and it said that was out of the allowable range.  So then I googled a bit about this and realized I should try $300 given that I legitimately had over $300 in charitable contributions and that's the limit of what can be deducted for 2020 if you choose the standard deduction.  That worked - or at least it solved that problem, but then created another.  Next I got stuck on the final "Deductions & Credits" screen where you pick either the Standard Deduction or Itemized Deductions.  In my case my Itemized Deductions were just a bit, about $150, above the Standard Deduction amount and TurboTax was naturally recommending the Itemized Deductions and showing that if I picked that then my refund would go up by another $29 bucks.  So I picked it but my refund didn't actually go up...  So I went a little further along in the process and previewed my return and it showed me taking the Standard Deduction, this despite the fact that TurboTax had recommended the Itemized Deduction and that is what I'd selected.  So skip forward - eventually I ended up on the phone with an advisor (Anthony) and worked with him on the phone for next 1 hour and 29 minutes...  He pretty quickly saw what I saw and tried most of the same things to get TurboTax to use the Itemized Deduction that I had tried.  He even pulled his lead in.  They were unsuccessful though.  The ultimate remedy was to send me a free copy of the desktop version of TurboTax because they indicated they'd been able to get it working there, just not in TurboTax Online.  They recommended exporting from TurboTax Online and importing my data into the desktop version.  I was worried there might be a data corruption issue though so I went and re-entered everything from scratch.  At the very end of this saga I think I see where the problem is, at least for me and those like me whose Itemized Deductions are just a little bit over the Standardized Deduction.  In such a case it may look like the Itemized Deductions is the better option but in fact if you have at least $300 in charitable contributions then it is actually better if you take the Standardized Deduction in which case this new $300 deduction for 2020 on line 10b sweetens the deal.  So there seems to be a bug in the TurboTax online version where you can get into this state where it pins you to taking the Standardized deduction plus the $300 deduction (via the route I mentioned at the start) which is actually the right overall answer, but then later on the final "Deductions and Credits" screen it incorrectly makes it sound like you could save even a bit more if you switched to take the Itemized Deduction.  However, the truth is that if you did that you wouldn't be eligible for the extra $300 deduction on line 10b of the 1040 anymore.  I want to say thanks to Anthony - even though he wasn't able to quickly remedy my issue he did approach it very professionally - quickly realizing that I had run across a legitimate bug and he worked hard to find a workaround, even pulling in his lead.  That was a breath of fresh air - better than the typical first question of "is you computer on/off switch in the on position?"  🙂

[dtatlock087]

I know things like this happen, but with what I paid for this software, it really sucked that I had to spend so much time trying to work around this error that you knew about.  I finally was able to get a $299 deduction to work after clearing my cache, looping back over and over and researching this thread.  This took more time than it would have taken me to prepare and file a paper return, which is totally unacceptable.  I also was ready to file 2 weeks ago and would have had my refund by now except I was waiting for a fix.  I will definitely NOT use Turbotax next year.

[gloretired]

No matter how many of the suggested resolutions I have read on this subject, I cannot get it to work.  I keep getting the same error message.

I am taking the Standard Deduction, I have deleted any charitable donations that I had previously entered (totaling only $180 so I want to take the $300 that is offered).  What else can I do to get this ONE (1) error fixed so I can finish this stuff.