Should charitable deduction for Standard Deduction Form 1040 Line 12 accept $600 for MFJ, mine only shows $300?

[HConcordMA]

I'm listing MJF and posting Standard Deduction but Online Turbotax Form 1040 Line 12b will only post $300 on line 12b.

[VolvoGirl]

Wait.   I think there will be an update for that.  

[HConcordMA]

Thanks.

Is there a way to advise Turbo Tax of this problem? I have well over $600 in charitable deductions reported in my TurboTax Online form, yet they only calculate $300 allowable when using the Standard Deduction. The law was changed from 2020 now allowing MFJ to post a maximum of $600 with the Standard Deduction is used.

This is the only entry which will delay my filing.

[KrisD15 · Accepted solution]

I tested TurboTax Online and 600 was taken on line 12c. 

If you are having trouble, please try the steps listed below. 

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 if you are taking the standard deduction and the charity cash contribution

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  600 if Married Filing Jointly

IF YOU ARE ITEMIZING DEDUCTIONS enter 0

Scroll down and click Continue

Click Continue on the next screen

@HConcordMA

PLEASE NOTE, IF THESE STEPS DO NOT BRING YOU TO THE "CHARITABLE CASH CONTRIBUTION under CARES ACT" page, and you entered "Donations to Charity in 2021" under Deductions & Credits, you may need to delete that entry. 

Click Deduction & Credits on the screen, and scroll down to "Donations to Charity in 2021" and click EDIT/ADD

Delete all entries

Click "Done with Charitable Donations" when all entries have been deleted. 

Follow the steps listed above

[Edited 01/10/2022 I 3:26pm PST]

[HConcordMA · Accepted solution]

very helpful and detailed response. I had to delete all donation entries to get to the  Cares Act screen and $600 for MFJ was there!

I'll need to re enter the specific donations which are needed for my state return, will that undo this effort?

thank you again. terrific response.

[filmsrme]

Thanks, as this was driving me nuts.  Little disappointing that Turbo Tax doesn't just come out and ask about CARES donations first.

[Dave_the_Tax_Man]

I see the solution to the $600 problem for TurboTax Online.  However, I'm using the downloaded software on my Mac and the software only puts $300 in the field.

[filmsrme]

I assume you are filing MFJ and you did not put in any other deductions? If so TT should then ask you specifically for your cash charitable donations at which point you enter your charitable donations. Apparently anything entered in deductions keeps this question from popping up. Weird.

[JamesG1]

@Dave_the_Tax_Man

The deduction on line 12b Charitable Cash Contributions under CARES Act can be entered at either:

• Deductions & Credits / Donations to Charity 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.

In either case, you must pass all the way through both Deductions & Credits and Other Tax Situations.

The software has to know that you qualify for the Standard Deduction after you pass through these sections of the software before it can correctly report the deduction on line 12b of the 2021 Federal 1040 tax return.

[ronaldcox3883]

I am still confused. I am using the download deluxe version. There is no screen "Charitable Contributions under CARES ACT'". I can manually force $600, but do I then put "CARES ACT" in the explanation on the1040worksheet? 

[DaveF1006]

The best way to record this is to go to federal>deductions and credits.  Scroll through the entire deduction section until you reach a screen that says the Standard Deduction is Right for you.  The very next screen will allow you to enter $600 as the charitable contribution. This amount  should now appear in Line 12B of form 1040.

Do not enter this anywhere else including the worksheets.

[ronaldcox3883]

There is still a bug in the software. I was in step-by-step mode. After going back and editing deductions, it still did not give a message "the standard deduction is right for you" with a place to enter the CARES deduction. 

Also, at the end of the deduction screen, the software would not continue. I saved, exited, restarted and ran "final review". This flagged a CARES entry as being the wrong amount ($300 instead of $600 for MFJ). I edited this number in the forms view, reran review and everything was OK. 

[DawnC]

  To clear this up in TurboTax Desktop and get your deduction recorded on your tax return, do the following.  

1. Click on Personal Income at the top of the desktop software.   
2. Then choose Deductions and Credits.   
3. Pick I'll Choose What I Work On.
4. Scroll all the way down and click on Done with Deductions.   This is the button that you have to click in order to get the CARES ACT charitable deduction questions.   The button is at the very bottom of the page and depending on how large your screen is, you have to scroll down the page to see it.   

[pb236]

This doesn't appear to work on my Deluxe desktop version .  When I click "Done with Deductions", pressing continue results in the following sequence of pages:

Let's Check Your Deductions and Credits

Retirement Income Results

IRA Contribution Results

Retirement Deduction Results

[ Name ], Here are Your 2020 and 2021 Deductions & Credits

The Standard Deduction is Right for You!

Qualified Business Income Deduction Summary

That's it.  Pressing continue once more brings me out of the "Deductions & Credits" section and to the "Other Tax Situations" section.  No CARES act pages.

Moreover, I went into forms and changed the $300 to $600.  It stayed for a bit but then went back to $300 when I reviewed and printed a PDF of the return.

UPDATE: Feb 1 - The $600 seems to be staying now.  However, to be safe I re-read the best 2 solutions and saw it said that if Charitable Contributions under CARES Act doesn't show up, go into "Donations to Charity in 2021" under Deductions & Credits and delete any entries you previously made.   Then clicking on Done with Donations & Credits did eventually bring up the CARES Act page (after other screens), where I could properly enter 600 for our Married Filing Jointly status.

[ronaldcox3883]

Yes. I am still getting the same error, and the software is up to date. This is an obvious bug. What else is the software not doing correctly? That is why I always do my final review in "forms" view!