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"

[DBergie]

I am doing this and it is not changing my tax due. 
if i look at the 1040 and worksheet for charity, it is acting like i am itemizing when it is taking the standard deduction.

I currently have to manually change the forms yo get it to put the $600 in the correct location for charitable cash contributions when taking the standard deduction 

[KrisD15]

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.

[DBergie]

Thanks for the information. This is not a State return issue it is Federal. The $600 cash donations entered are not showing up on the 1040. I have deleted ALL entries and started over with the same result.

I can get past it by forcing the $600 entries on the Schedule A, but there certainly seems to be a bug somewhere that is keeping it from working properly.

[Dclinealf3]

I cannot get TurboTax to accept cash contribution allowed under the CARES Act when using the standard deduction. Why is this so hard to accomplish?  How do I fix this glitch?

[DaveF1006]

To clarify, have you made charitable contribution entries in the deductions and credits section?

@Dclinealf3

[DBergie]

Yes

[DaveF1006]

What you need to do is to remove the charitable contributions in the deductions and credits section. Then go to deductions and credits and scroll the entire way through until you reach a page that says the standard deduction. The next screen will let you claim $300 or $600 (Married Filing Jointly).

On the federal 1040, 12A should be blank and 12B should have the $300 or $600 standard deduction amount.

[DBergie]

When I scroll to the bottom of the Deductions and Credits page there is nothing labeled "Standard Deduction". If I click the "Done with Deductiosn" button at the bottom of the page it moves to "let's check your Deductions and Credits and has three bars that fill all the way. I see nowhere to enter the $600.

[MayaD]

Here are the last few steps to enter your donations:

1. On the screen "let's check your Deductions and Credits" click continue.  
2. The following screen is "Here are your 2021 deductions and Credits", hit continue.
3. Click Continue until you get to the screen "Charitable Cash Contributions Under Cares ACT" and enter the $600.

This is an above the line deduction which means, it will reduce both your adjusted gross income and your taxable income — which, in turn, reduces the amount of federal income tax you owe.)

[DBergie]

Thanks for sticking with me on this issue.

I do not get that screen. After the "Let's check" screen it goes through a check on early withdrawal penalty for retirement income exemption (public safety officer early pension) and goes to "Good news your Tax bill just got Lower". Next it shows Retirement Income results and then a "Deductions and Credits Summary" Page followed by the Standard Deduction is Right for you, then Qualified Business deductions, then "Other Tax Situations".

I am leaning towards just manually entering the $600 on Schedule A

[MaryK4]

If you manually enter it on the Schedule A you will not get the deduction if you are not itemizing.  @DBergie

[DBergie]

Thanks.

My bad, not schedule A I enter it on the 1040 1040SR Worksheet and it carries over to the 1040

[dturk-ie77]

Found another issue with the "Charitable Cash Contributions under Cares Act". If a listed entity on the donations page has a blank amount (e.g., Goodwill with nothing in the amount box), it will not process/post the deduction.

Major note: for 2021, the deduction is not on line 10b (as it was in 2020). It's now on line 12b.