How is Schedule A, Line 18 calculated? What does Carryover from prior year mean and how do I get supporting evidence of that amount?

[BMcCalpin · Accepted solution]

In certain cases, you are not able to deduct the full amount of a charitable contribution if it exceeds 20% or 30% or 50% of your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI). You can carryover these excess charitable contributions for up to 5 years.

When you did your tax return last year, you would have been told if your contributions had created an excess to be carried over. Therefore, looking at your 2016 return should help understand where this came from.

Note that you can manually enter a carryover on the Deductions & Credits screen under Charitable Donations->Charitable Donations Carryover from 2016.