The rule: take whichever deduction is larger
Each year you can subtract either the standard deduction or your itemized deductions from your income, but not both. The larger one lowers your taxable income more, so it usually saves more federal tax. Most filers end up with the standard deduction because it is large and needs no receipts. The choice only affects federal income tax, not Social Security or Medicare tax.
Itemizing means listing specific expenses on Schedule A of Form 1040. It only helps when those expenses add up to more than your standard deduction.
2026 standard deduction amounts
For tax year 2026, the standard deduction went up for every filing status. These are the amounts your itemized total needs to beat.
| Filing status | 2026 standard deduction |
|---|---|
| Single | $16,100 |
| Married filing separately | $16,100 |
| Married filing jointly | $32,200 |
| Qualifying surviving spouse | $32,200 |
| Head of household | $24,150 |
Source: IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32.
If you are 65 or older, or blind, you add an extra amount for each condition. It is $2,050 per condition if you are unmarried and $1,650 per condition if you are married. A single filer age 65 would have $16,100 + $2,050 = $18,150. A dependent’s standard deduction is the greater of $1,350 or earned income plus $450, up to the normal amount.
One special case: if you are married filing separately and your spouse itemizes, you generally must itemize too. Check the Form 1040 instructions for details.
What counts as an itemized deduction
Only certain expenses can be itemized, and several have limits. The main categories on Schedule A are:
- Home mortgage interest on a main home or second home, within the loan limits set by law.
- State and local taxes, such as income or sales tax plus property tax. This deduction has a dollar cap, so not all of it may count. See the IRS Schedule A instructions for the current limit.
- Charitable gifts to qualified organizations, with limits based on your income.
- Medical and dental expenses, but only the part above 7.5% of your adjusted gross income (AGI).
- Other items, such as certain casualty losses and gambling losses up to winnings.
Each category has its own rules on what qualifies, so the Schedule A instructions are the best guide for edge cases. Some costs no longer qualify at all. Unreimbursed job expenses for W-2 employees, for example, were part of the miscellaneous itemized deductions that are now permanently eliminated.
Worked example: when itemizing wins
Itemizing pays off when you have large expenses in a few categories. Here is a single filer with $90,000 of AGI in 2026.
- Mortgage interest: $9,000
- State and local taxes: $6,000 (assumed to be within the cap)
- Charitable gifts: $2,500
- Medical expenses of $8,250. The floor is 7.5% × $90,000 = $6,750, so only $8,250 − $6,750 = $1,500 counts.
Itemized total: $9,000 + $6,000 + $2,500 + $1,500 = $19,000. That is $19,000 − $16,100 = $2,900 more than the standard deduction.
Now compare the tax under each choice, using 2026 single brackets:
- Standard deduction: taxable income $90,000 − $16,100 = $73,900. Tax = $5,800 + 22% × ($73,900 − $50,400) = $5,800 + $5,170 = $10,970.
- Itemized: taxable income $90,000 − $19,000 = $71,000. Tax = $5,800 + 22% × ($71,000 − $50,400) = $5,800 + $4,532 = $10,332.
Itemizing saves $10,970 − $10,332 = $638. That matches the shortcut: $2,900 of extra deduction × the 22% marginal rate = $638.
The saving is smaller than many people expect. Only the amount above the standard deduction counts, and it is worth your marginal rate, not the full dollar amount. Without the medical costs, this filer’s itemized total would be $17,500, which is only $1,400 above the standard deduction.
When the standard deduction wins
The higher standard deduction for joint filers is hard to beat. Suppose a married couple filing jointly had the same $19,000 of itemized expenses.
Their standard deduction is $32,200, which is $32,200 − $19,000 = $13,200 more than their itemized total. Taking the standard deduction gives them the lower taxable income, with no records to keep for those expenses.
The standard deduction also tends to win for renters, people without large medical bills, and anyone whose state and local taxes are modest. Some households “bunch” deductions, such as making two years of charitable gifts in one year. That can let them itemize in one year and take the standard deduction the next. Whether that fits your situation is worth checking with a tax professional.
Age can tip the balance further. A married couple filing jointly where both spouses are 65 or older adds $1,650 each to the $32,200 base. Their standard deduction becomes $32,200 + $1,650 + $1,650 = $35,500, a higher bar for itemizing.
A quick way to decide
You do not need perfect records to get a first answer. A rough total of your biggest deductible costs is usually enough to see which side wins.
- Look up your standard deduction for your filing status and age.
- Add your mortgage interest (from Form 1098), deductible state and local taxes up to the cap, and charitable gifts.
- Add medical costs only above 7.5% of AGI, and any other Schedule A items.
- Compare the two totals. If itemized is clearly lower, the standard deduction is likely the better choice.
- If the totals are close, multiply the difference by your marginal rate to see the dollar stakes. A $1,000 gap at 22% is worth about $220 of federal tax.
If you do itemize, keep receipts and statements for each expense. The IRS can ask you to support any amount on Schedule A.
Tax software usually runs this comparison for you once your numbers are entered. Even so, a quick total before you file helps you know what records to gather. It also tells you whether tracking expenses all year is worth the effort.
Life changes can flip the answer. Buying a home brings mortgage interest and property tax. A year with large medical bills or a big donation can push the itemized total over the line. Paying off a mortgage or moving to a lower-tax state can pull it back under. Because of this, it helps to revisit the choice each year rather than assume last year’s answer still holds.
Deductions you get either way
Several newer deductions do not depend on this choice. The One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act added four deductions for tax years 2025 through 2028, claimed on Schedule 1-A, that you can take whether you itemize or not.
- Senior deduction: $6,000 per person age 65 or older ($12,000 if both spouses qualify), reduced by 6% of MAGI above $75,000 ($150,000 joint). It is on top of the regular extra standard deduction for age 65.
- Qualified tips: up to $25,000, with a phase-out above $150,000 of MAGI ($300,000 joint).
- Qualified overtime premium pay: up to $12,500 ($25,000 joint), with the same phase-out.
- Car loan interest: up to $10,000 of interest on a qualifying new, personal-use vehicle assembled in the US.
Married couples must file jointly to claim the senior, tips and overtime deductions. Read the IRS Schedule 1-A announcement or our tips and overtime guide for the rules. Retirement contributions and other adjustments to income also apply either way.
This page covers federal tax only. Many states have their own standard deduction and rules on itemizing, which can differ from the federal ones. For how your deduction feeds into the brackets, see marginal vs effective tax rate.
Run your own numbers with the Standard Deduction Calculator, then see the tax impact with the Federal Income Tax Calculator.