Not itemizing, my charitable contributions are not deducting

[photobug56]

It looks like I won't be itemizing for 2021, but I gave to some charities.  Entered them in.  When I check the 1040, it does not subtract any of it from my income, but I checked, and clearly you can deduct up to $300 per person ($600 since we file jointly, married).  This sounds like a TurboTax error.

[LenaH]

If you use the election to take a charitable deduction of up to $600, on top of using the standard deduction, you cannot enter this through the Itemized Deductions screens. 

Please follow the steps below to enter your charitable contribution in the correct place in TurboTax :

1. Open your return. 
2. Click Federal from the left side of your screen.
3. Click Deductions &Credits on the top of the screen.
4. Scroll down and click on Wrap up Tax Breaks.
5. Continue through the screens until you get to Charitable Cash Contributions under Cares Act.
6. Enter your contributions.

To confirm it flowed correctly to your tax return, please complete the following:

1. Click on Tax Tools on the left-hand side.
2. Click on Tools.
3. Click on View Tax Summary.
4. Click on Preview my 1040 on the left-hand side.
5. Scroll down to Line 10a and confirm you are taking the standard deduction ($25,100).
6. Scroll down to Line 10b and 10c of your 1040. This should show the $600 in contributions. 

[photobug56]

Tax Summary does not include a preview of the 1040, it is just a summary.  But, of course, one can view the 1040 under View / Forms / Forms in my Return.

So, here's the problem; there are no lines 10A, B, C.  There is the box where you'd expect TT (Prem, Win) to pick up your charity items from what you typed in via Step by Step.  It's empty - it didn't carry over.  I'm guessing this is a bug since this is a fairly well known option through 2021.  One can enter it in by hand but this is not exactly desirable behavior.

To be more specific, in the 1040 1040SR Wks, where under 10a it should show my charity total WAS empty.  So was 12b.  I entered it in 12b - and then 12a suddenly showed the same amount.  So now I'm more certain that there's a bug here.

In the many years I've used TT (I was once a beta tester), this is one of the odder bugs I've encountered.

I used to see ways to do bug reports.  Now I'm trying to phone in.

Thanks!

[photobug56]

Revision to my previous post.  I added more charities.  On the worksheet, 12a, it shows the correct total.  It should carry over to 12b and it does not; you have to manually enter the correct total into 12b, or else your charitable contributions will not be transferred to th 1040.  At this point, I'd say this is a fairly serious (though one you can work around IF you know about it) bug.  Since most people won't know to dig (they would assume that entering your charities in step by step is all they need to do), they could miss up to $300 per person ($600 married filing jointly) in charitable deductions when taking the standard deduction.  IOTW, people could easily overpay their tax by a couple hundred dollars.

I did call Intuit.  I'm not sure the rep understood what I was saying, hopefully he did and he filed a bug report as I requested.  But anyone reading this, please note if it affects you, and if someone from Intuit sees this, please make sure there's a bug report.

[photobug56]

On TTP Windows, Wrap up Tax Breaks does not show up on the Deductions screen.  And Lena, if step by step tells you to enter your charity contributions, that should carry automatically whether you are able to itemize or not.  In real life, we enter in our intended deductions, and then see if they add up to enough to itemize.  This year mine don't.  But given that up to $300 or $600 of charity is deductible either way, it should carry automatically.  But the worksheet is not doing it.  Hence, a bug - or a feature designed to cause many TurboTax users to pay a good chunk more in Fed income tax than they should have to for 2021.

[FangxiaL]

Did you enter the donation in the cash section? Only cash donations can be deducted with the standard deduction.

@photobug56

[photobug56]

Yes, actually.  The spot you circled.  I assume that's from the worksheet.  When you enter the cash amounts in the Step by Step, they total in that spot, as expected.  BUT - it doesn't carry from there to the second spot you have $600.  And as best as I can tell (many, many years using TT and also being a former beta tester, and many years developing financial software in banks), that's a bug that needs to be squashed.  Because if not, lots of people who don't itemize but do enter it their cash charity and don't think to check to see if it carried will pay too much Federal income tax.

Now, if by chance, you see it carry while I don't, then something is inconsistent.

Looks like the right people are looking at this!

[KrisD15]

This works for me, it seems there is a snag when cash donations are entered under Deductions & Credits. 

I understand an update was pushed, you might try to update your product if using Desktop or use this work-around:

Please return to the Deductions & Credits section, scroll down to "Charitable Donations" and DELETE any cash entries you made there. 

(NOTE: Some states allow you to Itemize Deductions when taking the Standard Deduction on the Federal Return. To include cash charitable donations as an Itemized Deduction on your STATE return, you can enter the donations as "Items" select "I'll value them, select "Other intangible property" enter the description as CASH, since it was and the amount as the value.)

Go back through the review. The program will ask you for your charity donation again although it may not be until after the state return is finished, at the END of the FINAL REVIEW.  (After the "Tax Summary for 2021" screen)

 Enter the amount up to 600 Married Filing Joint.

Unless your cash donations are limited by your income, this procedure (listing cash as items) will give you the same result on your state return as entering under cash donations. 

The Tax law allows a Taxpayer to claim Charity Donations on their Schedule A or, if using the Standard Deduction, on their 1040 line 12b as an addition to their Standard Deduction amount. 

This amount can be up to 600 for Married Filing Joint, or 300 for all others.

[photobug56]

1. I know what is allowed.

2. The Step by Step is the only appropriate place to enter charitable contributions.  It provides good documentation of the individual contributions..

3. The worksheet gets the total properly.  It just doesn't carry it the one little step farther to the next box.  That is what needs to be fixed.  So the question - has it been?

4. I'm not expecting to itemize on my state taxes, and my state does not have a charity provision if you are not itemizing, so I'm only concerned about Fed.

5. I don't think it's a viable idea to be putting contributions in some mystery box under Final Review.  To me that makes no sense.