Turbotax software is not calculating my charity donation (300 for year 2020) into my return when entered. Tried restarting program checked software update with no luck

[blakelrsummer]

This is for 2020 tax year. Law passed in 2020 stating that one can qualify for 300 deduction for charitable donation. I went online and saw that other Turbotax users were having similar issue with charitable donations entered now factoring into return total. Please help.

[KrisD15]

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.) 

DESKTOP

Go to Step-By-Step input

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 and click Continue

Your 1040 should update

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

[blakelrsummer]

Hello,

I followed instructions for getting to CARES Act but this is not an option that pops up on my version. I am using MAC OS and am fully updated as of today. I keep trying to delete and then re-enter and save. Nothing changes and no windows about the CARES Act.

Please help.

[PattiF · Accepted solution]

There are two steps in entering the line 10b above the line deduction.

The first is to enter the contribution in the charitable contributions section (it must be as CASH).

The second step, which is not obvious to taxpayers, is that during the Final Review when TurboTax knows that (1) you have made one or more cash contributions, and (2) you are taking the Standard Deduction, then TurboTax will ask you the amount to put on line 10b.

Only after this is done will the amount appear on 10b.

[np07310]

Hi - I'm married filing jointly, and I entered $300 for this the first time mistakenly during the final review process.  When I tried to change this to the actual donation amount ($500), there was not a way to update this again.  Even the donation section no longer flows through to update this number (box 12b).  Do you know if there's a way to manually update this once you've done Final Review the first time? 

[MayaD]

To update your charitable donations when taking the standard deduction:

1. Login to your return.
2. Go to Federal Taxes.
3. Go to Deductions and Credits.
4. Scroll all the way down and click Done with Deductions or Wrap up Tax Breaks. 
5. Continue until you get to the screen Charitable Cash Contributions under Cares Act

[np07310]

Unfortunately that screen would not appear again.  After wrap up tax breaks, I can click through all the way to filing without seeing that CARES act screen again where I can enter cash donations.  I think it's a glitch in Turbotax's website that once that CARES act screen showed up once, it may never show up again even if you wanted to go back and change it.

[JamesG1]

It sounds like there was a Federal 1040 line 12b Charitable Cash Contributions under CARES Act entered when your tax return qualified for the standard deduction.

Do you see the screen Based on what you just told us, the Standard Deduction is best for you?  

The screen Charitable Cash Contributions under CARES Act immediately follows Based on what you just told us, the Standard Deduction is best for you.

Do you qualify for the standard deduction or to itemize deductions?

Federal 1040 line 12b Charitable Cash Contributions under CARES Act can be entered or removed at either: 

• Federal Taxes / Deductions & Credits / Your tax breaks / Donations to Charity in 2021, or 
• at the screen Charitable Cash Contributions under CARES Act immediately following Based on what you just told us, the Standard Deduction is best for you.

If you itemized you deductions, you have to qualify for the standard deduction to access the screen.  Then change the Federal 1040 line 12b Charitable Cash Contributions under CARES Act.  Finally, restore the itemized deductions to qualify for Schedule A.

Go to Tax Tools / Tools / View Tax Summary / Preview my 1040 to view line 12b for the charitable deduction of $0.

@np07310

[np07310]

Thank you.  My problem is that the CARES act screen does not show up after I wrap up tax breaks and TurboTax recommends Standard Deduction.  It first goes to the "Qualified Business Income Deduction Summary" screen, then goes directly to "That's all we need. Let's keep going to wrap up"

I believe this is a glitch in TurboTax's system since somehow the CARES act page never shows up again after the first time that I entered a $ value (which was incorrect and I now need to update).  If you could replicate what I described and were able to see the CARES act page show up when coming back to tax breaks after the Final Review, that might mean there's something wrong with my computer.  I called phone support before but they weren't able to figure out, so thought I'd ask here one more time in case somebody can help fix this glitch. 

[AnnetteB6]

Try going to the charitable contributions section of your return and enter your cash contributions there.  TurboTax will take those amounts and apply them as an addition to the standard deduction up to $600 for a Married Filing Joint return.  

Use these steps:

• On the top row of the TurboTax online screen, click on Search (or for CD/downloaded TurboTax locate the search box in the upper right corner) 
• This opens a box where you can type in “charitable donation” (be sure to enter exactly as shown here) and click the magnifying glass (or for CD/downloaded TurboTax, click Find)
• The search results will give you an option to “Jump to charitable donation”
• Click on the blue “Jump to charitable donation” link and enter your information

@np07310

[np07310]

Thank you for your help.  As mentioned several times, however, my problem is that the CARES act screen never showed up again after the first time I did the final review.  I've entered my cash donations to the usual screen that adds up to >$300 (per the Review All Your Charities page), but that never changed the final number.  I'm convinced at this point that this is a glitch in TurboTax's system.  You could try to replicate this by doing a test filing, go through the donation page, enter $300 into the CARES act page, then run a final review (which will ask you to verify that cash donation number to put in box 12b).  You'll likely find that you can't access the CARES act page again after your final review, and whatever you do to change the Charitable Donation page will not matter unless the value is so high that it shifts from standard deduction to itemized.

I'm probably going to just give up at this point, but wanted to let you know that there's a bug in your system.