If I select itemized deduction (TurboTax has calculated that it is larger than standard), why does schedule A not appear as a final form and the 1040 uses standard ded?

[mhm10402005]

I looked at the final form just before filing and noticed that 1040 did NOT include my itemized deduction.  It used the lower standard even though I accepted the software suggestion to itemize.

[JamesG1]

We are not able to see your tax return. 

Perhaps the deduction of state and local taxes is a large number but the deduction on Schedule A Itemized Deductions is limited to the $10,000 maximum deduction.

This IRS FAQ states:

Your deduction of state and local income, sales, and property taxes is limited to a combined total deduction of $10,000 ($5,000 if married filing separately). You may be subject to a limit on some of your other itemized deductions also.

In addition, you can deduct only the part of your medical and dental expenses that exceeds 7.5% of the amount of your adjusted gross income on line 11 of IRS Form 1040.

Did you elect, either intentionally or unintentionally the Charitable Cash Contributions under CARES Act?  The deduction may appear on line 10b of the Federal 1040 tax return.  This deduction may have been selected when your tax return was still electing the standard deduction.  This deduction can confuse the software in making the standard deduction / itemized deduction determination.

If you are in TurboTax Online, the screen Charitable Cash Contributions under CARES Act appears as the end of Deductions & Credits. First you have to pass the screen Based on what you told us, the standard deduction is best for you at the end of Deductions & Credits.

But you have to qualify for the standard deduction before the screen appears.  So you may want to change the value of one or more itemized deductions to $1 so that you qualify for the standard deduction.

Follow these steps: 

• At the top of the screen, click on Deductions & Credits.
• Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on Wrap up tax breaks.
• Continue through several screens.
• At the screen Based on what you told us, the standard deduction is best for you, click Continue.
• At the screen Any Charitable Cash Contributions? delete the dollar amount.
• Continue through Federal Review to make sure that things look correct.
• Then restore your itemized deductions dollar amounts.

[mhm10402005]

Thanks. 

Yes I am limited by the $10k state tax rule.  And that was identified correctly by TurboTax, but I still meet the itemized threshold. 

The Cares Act donation has been / is a issue during the federal check.

I'll try the plan to force standard ded (zero out a donation or two) and then look for that Cares Act item in the deduction section of the software.  Just a note:  I did this tax year in "out of order" chunks (as forms arrived, etc.).  Then during federal check TurboTax took me to "correct  / edit" worksheets (That was the first time I ever had to do that in 15 years of TT use).  And the "items in question" that I was expected to edit were things like "line 14 is too large" where the entry on line 14 was "0" or I had to enter a deduction ($300 or less) of the Cares Act worksheet where I knew (at that point) I was itemizing .... and my already entered cash donations were in the thousands...??

One other point, I noticed this standard ded. error during the final visual check of my actual tax forms after paying and just before e filing.  I hope that it is not too late, and that I can navigate this software issue.

Thanks again your answer was spot on for my many issues this year...

[VolvoGirl · Accepted solution]

One thing to keep in mind....

How much is your schedule A itemized deductions? How much is on 1040 line 12? Maybe the Standard Deduction plus the extra $300 for Charity on line 10b is more than your itemized deductions.  

If you are using the Desktop program you can switch to Forms and open schedule A to check it. 

For Online,

If it's giving you the Standard Deduction and not showing you Schedule A you can check the actual amount of itemized deductions by using by going to

Tax Tools on left

Tools - Topic Search (top left box)

Type in itemized deductions, choosing. It should highlight that in the list, click on GO

Then Click on "Change my deduction". That will display the actual amount of itemized deductions vs. the standard deduction. (Be sure to uncheck "Change my deduction" after checking it so you do not lock in the wrong deduction.

How to change between the Standard Deduction and Itemized Deductions
https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/accessing/help/how-do-i-change-from-the-standard-deduction-to-item...

[mhm10402005]

Okay I zeroed out a donation to make std ded the best option and then in the CARES section I deleted the preloaded entry (which was the correct amount for the now reduced donations) and left that field blank.  Then, during the federal review, I was taken to a worksheet for 1040/1040SR and I had to enter something in the 10b field (blank was not acceptable in the worksheet), so I entered $300.00 for that Cares donation deduction.  Then I passed the federal review!  I went through state again and then passed the final federal and state review. 

Next, I went back to federal deductions and corrected the "test $1.00 entry".  So, that put me back into itemized ded > standard ded.  So I selected itemized but the program still used standard deduction...

[mhm10402005]

Thanks VolvoGirl (what car do you have?  I'm a GTI guy 🙂

Great point: my itemized ded < standard ded + $300!  But my taxes are less with the itemized selection than the standard selection... (as TT calculates) ...

I'll try  your suggestion to switch between itemized / std etc.  and I'll make sure the $300 donation is entered in the standard selection. 

btw: I did try and choose standard ded (even when TT suggested that I use itemized) I saw my taxes rise (in the upper LH corner) then I ran through federal check (got an okay) then I went back and selected itemized and the tax calculator in the upper left corner did show lower taxes but the little narrative you can access at the end of federal showed standard ded and the higher taxes...

Thanks for the help.

[VolvoGirl]

By taking a higher deduction it will decease your income and you may not be getting as many credits as before.   Also after you reduce your income to zero there is no more refund to get back but you still may owe for other things like self employment tax or the 10% early withdrawal penalty from 401k or IRA accounts.

[mhm10402005]

I did some testing (by added more mortgage interest) and I see that if my deductions are $25,101, it lets me itemize (once I edit the  worksheet to make the CARES donation blank after the fed review).  Note: $25,100 = std ded + CARES max charity of $300.  It is interesting that Std + $300 give me about $20 more taxes than this test case of $25,101 itemized deduction.  

So, as VolvoGirl noted, if $25,100 < your deductions < $24,800 and you have more than $300 in charity, the interface suggests itemize, but the software knows that part of the deductions were > $300 in charty, so it uses standard and makes you enter the $300 Cares deduction.  Back about 1 month ago, I wondered why it was asking me to do that because I thought it was itemizing.... 

awesome help folks!!

[lancepoehler]

I am using turbotax online with chrome. I am following your instructions for switching to itemized. Everything seems fine when I get to the page. It shows that itemized will be lower (by a lot) but no matter what I select, standard is what is being applied. I have verified that my selected (and recommended by turbotax) is not being applied by going to the print center and seeing that the standard deduction is being applied. I think there is a bug in turbotax. I really need to speak to someone to get this addressed. I'm sure i'm not the only one with this issue but many people may have not noticed it.

I was able to verify that this is the reason for the confusion. It is a UI bug giving a false recommendation. That said, I should be able to select itemized or standards at my choosing, something that appears to not be allowed.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/taxes/discussion/re-if-i-select-itemized-deduction-turbotax-has-ca...

[FangxiaL]

For tax years 2021, taxpayers are allowed to deduct $300/$600 (MFJ) cash donations to a charity or charities without taking itemized deductions. Before 2020, in order to deduct donations to charities, you had to take the itemized deductions. Otherwise, no deductions were allowed for charitable donations. 

[FangxiaL]

For tax years 2021, taxpayers are allowed to deduct $300/$600 (MFJ) cash donations to a charity or charities without taking itemized deductions. Before 2020, in order to deduct donations to charities, you had to take the itemized deductions. Otherwise, no deductions were allowed for charitable donations. 

@janinebturner