If I know I'm not going to surpass the standard deduction this year, can I skip filling in medical expenses and charitable contributions altogether?

[But-I-digress]

Until the past couple of years, for as long as I can remember, I have itemized our deductions.  When the standard deduction was doubled, we have come close but not surpassed it.  If I determine by educated guess that we will get only the standard deduction this year, do I still need to fill in anything under charitable donations or medical expenses, other than HSA distributions?  What do I do about the place where it asks if specific agencies still apply to charitable donations?   We did donate to most of them again this year (and possibly a couple of new ones), but I honestly don't feel like doing the math on all of them, especially the in-kind donations, when I don't think it's going to affect my refund.  Do I mark them as none applying, and if so, does that mean when the tax laws change again, I'll have to fill in agency information on every single place we've donated again?  There are usually 15 or 20, and I'd rather not lose that information from the system.

[Mike9241]

it depends.  some states allow itemized deductions even though on the federal return the standard deduction is used.  my state doesn't so I do not enter them. so if your state doesn't allow them there's no purpose  in entering them except possibly charitable contributions.   the law for 2020 allows up to a $300 page 1 deduction for charitable donations.

[Critter-3 · Accepted solution]

You can skip all the sections you will not use if you wish and your state doesn't need it  ... at the end of that section as you leave the program will ask if you made cash donations up to $300  for the new deduction ...

[xmasbaby0]

If you want to skip entering your itemized deductions you can do that.  Many people will not have enough itemized deductions this year to itemize, and will just be getting their new higher standard deduction.  The thing is, though, that some of those deductions could make a difference on a state return even if they do not affect your federal return.  Information flows from your federal return to your state return, so it might not be a bad idea to go ahead and enter them anyhow.  It cannot hurt you.

The following states allow you to itemize deductions on just the state return: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, and Wisconsin, 

[But-I-digress]

Thanks.  As far as I know, the only one our state allows that I might have done is to an accredited college or university, which we didn't do this year.   I missed out on hearing about the $300, so I appreciated getting that info from you and others here.

[But-I-digress]

Do you know if this means I have to have entered the donation already in the normal area?  That won't be difficult, as I know we have donated that much to one agency in particular and could add up others to reach that as well.   

And thanks, as I had apparently missed hearing about the above the line option available this year.  

[But-I-digress]

No, it won't hurt me to add them, but it's fairly time-intensive.  Aside from monthly cash donations to a few different organizations and random contributions for friends participating in fundraising walks or bike rides--the easy ones to add up--there are the in-kind ones.  Haven't been as many to Goodwill or the library this year as normal, but I have items shipped directly to the local domestic violence shelter throughout the year, and it's a royal pain to have to go back and locate the dates, items, and cost of dozen of pillows, towel sets, small kitchen appliances etc.   Medical expenses are always a pain in the rear, but since we've been using our HSA to a greater extent, most of our expenses in that area will already be pre-tax.  Then again, our health insurance premiums and deductibles alone come close to $20K, which puts me back in the arena of "do I need to add everything up and make sure?"  Gaaahh!   Are we back to only being able to deduct over 10% of our AGI for medical?

[Critter-3]

If you already entered $300 or more in the cash donations simply don't enter them again later ... if done correctly the program should say we already have the $300 and let you move on.  

[NCperson]

and for planning purposes, the tax law signed last week extends the $300 cash donation deduction for 2021 as well. 

[NCperson]

update , for 2021 it's $300 for a single filer and $600 for a joint filer.  

[But-I-digress]

Great, even better!  Thanks.