Why are my charitable donations deductions being capped at 30% of AGI when the charity I am donating to is not one of the 30% charities?

[Brennanhill]

I made large donations to charities like Goodwill and Salvation army both of which are typically capped at 50% of AGI but turbo tax is capping it at 30% of AGI and I can't understand why.

[SteamTrain]

(Removed: I'm not really sure of some of the things I commented on.  Yeah, there  can be some 30% AGI limits applied if it is not actually CASH that you donated)).

[Brennanhill]

Thanks for the response, however I'm still confused. Last year I had a very similar financial situation where I donated a large amount to those same charities and I was able to deduct the full amount which ended up as 45% of my AGI. I don't understand what's different this year... very frustrating.

[ThomasM125]

The 30% limit applies to investments that appreciate in value, such as stocks, you need to make sure you picked the correct category when you entered the contributions:

If you contributed items, you need to make sure you checked the proper box on the screen that says Choose a category for this donation. Again, things that appreciate in value will have the 30% of adjusted gross income limitation:

[Brennanhill]

Hi ThomasM125 - 

This definitely was the answer. The important note being that anything that appreciates in value is capped at 30%. These items were inherited so when turbo tax was asking for purchase price I had entered zero. Therefore any value from the item is considered appreciation and therefore capped (as you noted) at the 30%. 

Wish TurboTax did a better job explaining that. It's a simple detail that can make a big difference. At least in my case. 

Thanks again for your help!