Should Form 1040 line 10b be blank? I made charitable contributions and took the standard deduction, but the final review says "charitable contributions should be blank"

[kimnkim]

I still don't see what I need to do with box 10b if I file an itemized deduction. I followed the example with my actual charitable deduction shown where you have 500 (autofilled by TurboTax). I have left both the 300 in place and zeroed out the 300 and I still get the error. I have even put zeros in both areas and I still get the error. What should I do since TurboTax suggests I itemize my deductions? I see an error no matter what I do.

[AmyC]

If you are itemizing, box 10b should be blank. Line 10b is only for those taking the standard deduction. You should be entering charity as usual with nothing special to do. When the program says itemizing is best for you, it should leave line 10b alone.  You can fill this form out for someone to call you. You may need another set of eyes.

@kimnkim

[richkut]

I ALSO am itemizing for 2020. I work in the forms motif, not step-by-step, so please follow along by observing the following via forms view. TTax Deluxe (WIN) shows a pink box for Form 1040, Line 10b--AN ERROR! I cannot seem to correct it either, for if I put in the $300 (for std ded users, which I am not), the error goes away but the form automatically lowers my AGI, which makes my return incorrect!! The amount of my 2020 charitable deductions automatically appears BETWEEN lines 10a and 10b, flowing from the Charitable Contributions Summary form. So in a nutshell, it appears that I have filled out everything properly but TTax Deluxe is giving me an error on Line 10b (making me fill in an amount) when it apparently should not be telling me to do anything and instead of flagging this line as an error it just should accept it. HELP!!!!

[kimnkim]

Thanks... I ended up closing down Turbo Tax completely and then reopened it. The 300 was still in the box but this time when I zeroed it out and reran the check it worked. The error was cleared. In my prior attempts to fix the issue I never closed down TT. FYI, no updates were loaded when I restarted TT. For whatever reason the restart seemed to allow me to resolve the issue. All is good now for me. Thanks for responding!  

[richkut]

Well I retraced your exact successful resolution and it did absolutely nothing for me--same exact error progression--so lucky you! In any case, I hope and trust that Intuit will be looking into this anomaly, as I cannot file my taxes by knowingly claiming and extra $300 deduction (LOL)! If Line 10b is left blank or I put in a zero, the error remains. If I put in 300, the error resolves but my taxes are incorrect--GO FIGURE! So Intuit, please HELP!!!!

[KathrynG3]

Try jumping over to Step-by-step to let TurboTax run the optimizer for deductions. It is important with this new deduction for the program to select which option, standard or itemizing, is best for you. To do this in TurboTax, go to Step-by-Step and follow these steps:

• Under the Personal tab, select Deductions & Credits.
• Select I'll choose what I work on 
• Scroll down to Charitable Donations and select Donations to Charity in 2020 and select Update.
• If everything looks good, select Done with Charitable Donations.
• Scroll down to the bottom of the next page and select Done with Deductions and Continue.
• Keep selecting Continue through the screens and adjusting any answers necessary until the type of deductions has been chosen. Select Continue. 
• Now, return to the Forms mode and check the 1040/1040SR Wks for Line 10b. This should resolve the issue.

@richkut

[richkut]

There appears to be a number of anomalies in my Turbotax 2020 Deluxe program, as follows:

In the step-by-step screen I select the "FEDERAL TAXES" tab, then select "Deductions & Credits" tab. Select "I'll choose what I work on". Select "Charitable Donations--Donations to Charity in 2020" (grayed out "Update" selection).  All of my Charitable Donations are correct, so select "Done with Charitable Donations".  Select "Continue".  Select "Done with Deductions". Select "Continue" each time until I see the statement: "The Standard Deduction is Right for You! Based on what you've told us, we've chosen the standard deduction for you. This deduction of $27,400 will save you the most money." My understanding is that a married filing jointly return has a standard deduction of $24,800, so adding another $300 for the extra allowed standard deduction for charitable donations in 2020 yields a total standard deduction of $25,100 allowed--which is less than the itemized deduction of $27,400 that resides on Form 1040 Line 12 (flowing from Schedule A Line 17). BUT WAIT, this amount did not flow correctly, for on Schedule A Line 17 it shows the Itemized Deductions as $27,369. But flowing to Form 1040 Line 12, the auto flowing amount is $27,400--a $31 difference between the Schedule A Itemized Deductions and the amount that flows to Form 1040 Line 12!! So there appear to be TWO anomalies associated with my Turbotax 2020 Deluxe program!! The correct Itemized Deductions flowing from Schedule A to Form 1040/1040SR Wks  is wrong, and the program noting I should take the Standard Deduction also is wrong!! This, in turn, causes the error when Line 10b on Form 1040/1040SR Wks is left blank! It appears that the program assumes more than $27K is okay and better to take as a standard deduction rather than itemizing and it is forcing me to select standard deduction or otherwise it creates the Line 10b error on Form 1040/1040SR Wks because I am not adding in the additional $300 (which I cannot legally declare). Are these two anomalies connected? I think so, but until this is corrected I cannot even begin to think about filing! HELP!!!!!!

[VolvoGirl]

If you got 27,400 that is the Joint Standard Deduction for both of you over 65.  The Standard Deduction is 24,800 + 1,300 x 2 = 27,400.  Plus you get the 300 on line 10b.  Are you getting the 300?

Go though the deduction section and enter your charity amounts.  Then keep going and finish that section.  It should say the Standard Deduction is right for you.  Then it will add the amount to line 10b.

[richkut]

Thanks for explaining all of this! I got tripped up on the extra $1300@ standard deduction for over 65! Turbotax 2020 Deluxe only notes this allowance for 65+ filers on the Standard Deductions for Dependents worksheet (which is not my situation), but just implicitly includes the correct allowance and automatically accounts for it by automatically adding it without noting it to the user. The IRS instructions ALSO includes the Standard Deduction Chart for People Who Were Born Before January 2, 1956, or Were Blind, while TTAX 2020 Deluxe DOES NOT! By automatically adding this to Form 1040 without any explanation or showing it anywhere on any of the forms or worksheets, anyone unaware of this allowance (such as myself) would be led down the wrong path and come to the same conclusions as I did about errors in the program, which currently I now do not have. Thanks again for pointing this out to me. All now is well with my progress thus far on my 2020 return.

[IraBeckerman]

I tried this and it did not work.

[richkut]

In order to troubleshoot your problem, Ira, you should let everyone know your exact step-by-step procedure and what your screen shows during that progression. The only way I found out the error of my ways was to do so. While I now do not believe that TTax 2020 has any glitches with respect to deductions (standard vs. itemized), I DID prior to a number of posts here that finally cleared the way once I was specific about what steps I took. The increase in the Standard Deduction has taken many people for a loop, as a good amount of folks who have itemized for years (myself included) now are better off with Standard Deduction. Couple this with the extra $300 deduction for Charitable Donations and the somewhat-hidden $1,300 deduction for 65+ people left me a few bucks short of an itemized deduction advantage for 2020--who knew? So please list your steps here and someone can retrace them and possibly rectify your error!

[cc13a-_t26]

I am not sure what they are telling me.  It asks one place what my contributions were.  If I take the standard deduction, what do I put in 10b

[richkut]

My understanding is that 1040 Line 10b is reserved for those taking the standard deduction (most everyone,  now that it has been raised so much!). Prior to 2020, only those claiming itemized deductions could declare charitable contributions. In 2020, if you made up to $300 in charitable contributions (legit and accepted by the IRS, of course) you can declare that amount; anything over $300 and you are limited to that $300 figure ($300 if single, head of household, or qualifying widow(er); $300 if married filing jointly; or $150 if married filing separately. So in my case my wife and I (joint return) gave way more than $300 to charities in 2020 but we only can declare $300, which I entered on line 10b. This is the FIRST TIME in decades that I do not have enough to claim itemized deductions, due to the new standard deduction amounts and extra deductions for my wife and I who are over 65! If you did not give to any charities last year and/or the box between 10a and 10b is blank, then line 10b should be blank. Is this your case?

[Cynthiad66]

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.

[Vista]

Line 10b has $300 in it even though I am itemizing. I need to get rid of it. How?