Standard Deduction Calculator

Find your federal standard deduction, including the extra amounts for age 65+ and blindness, and see whether your itemized total would beat it. Enter your MAGI and the calculator also works out the separate $6,000 senior deduction, which you get on top of either choice.

Short answer: the 2026 standard deduction is $16,100 for single filers and married couples filing separately, $24,150 for heads of household, and $32,200 for married couples filing jointly. You add $2,050 (unmarried) or $1,650 (married, per person) for being 65 or older and the same again for being blind. Itemize only if your Schedule A total is larger, per Rev. Proc. 2025-32.

The calculator is for informational purposes only. Results are estimates, not a completed Form 1040 or Schedule A.

What is the standard deduction for 2026?

The 2025 amounts reflect the increase in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The 2026 amounts are those figures adjusted for inflation, and the 2027 amounts come from Rev. Proc. 2026-35 (section 3.15), published November 5, 2026. Pick the tax year in the calculator to switch between them. The deduction comes off adjusted gross income, not gross pay. A single filer with $60,000 of AGI and no other deductions has $60,000 − $16,100 = $43,900 of taxable income. You can carry that number into the federal tax bracket calculator.

How much more is the standard deduction if you are 65 or blind?

You get an additional amount for each condition, so a person who is both 65+ and blind gets two additions. For 2026, you count as 65 if you were born before January 2, 1962, per the worksheet in IRS Publication 505.

Examples for 2026:

• Single, 66, not blind: $16,100 + $2,050 = $18,150
• Single, 70 and blind: $16,100 + $2,050 + $2,050 = $20,200
• Married filing jointly, both 67: $32,200 + $1,650 + $1,650 = $35,500
• Head of household, 65: $24,150 + $2,050 = $26,200

On a joint return, each spouse's age and blindness count separately, so the most a couple can add is four × $1,650 = $6,600.

How does the $6,000 senior deduction fit in?

The enhanced senior deduction is separate from the age-65 addition above. It runs from 2025 through 2028 and you claim it on Schedule 1-A. You get it whether you take the standard deduction or itemize.

• $6,000 for each taxpayer who is 65 or older with a valid Social Security number
• Reduced by 6% of MAGI above $75,000 ($150,000 on a joint return)
• Married couples must file jointly to claim it

On Schedule 1-A, the 6% reduction comes off each spouse's $6,000 separately. A joint couple, both 70, with $200,000 of MAGI loses 6% × $50,000 = $3,000 from each spouse's deduction, leaving $3,000 + $3,000 = $6,000. A single 68-year-old with $95,000 of MAGI keeps $6,000 − 6% × $20,000 = $4,800. A single filer's deduction is gone at $175,000 of MAGI, and a couple's is gone at $250,000.

So a married couple, both 67, with MAGI under $150,000 gets $35,500 of standard deduction plus $12,000 of senior deduction, for $47,500 of deductions before any other Schedule 1-A items. The senior deduction calculator handles the phaseout for your actual MAGI, and the senior tax deduction guide covers eligibility in detail.

What is the standard deduction for a dependent?

If someone can claim you as a dependent, your 2026 standard deduction is the greater of $1,350 or your earned income plus $450. It can't be more than the regular amount for your filing status. Add the 65+ or blind amounts if they apply.

• A 16-year-old with $3,000 of summer wages: $3,000 + $450 = $3,450
• A college student with $500 of wages and $2,000 of interest: earned income + $450 is only $950, so the floor applies: $1,350
• A student with $22,000 of wages: $22,450 is capped at $16,100

For 2027 the floor rises to $1,400 and the add-on to $500 (Rev. Proc. 2026-35, section 3.15(2)). The calculator does not apply the dependent rule, so work it by hand if it applies to you.

Who cannot take the standard deduction?

Pub 505 lists the cases where the standard deduction is zero:

• You're married filing separately and your spouse itemizes. Both spouses must then itemize, even if one has almost no deductions.
• You're a dual-status alien, meaning a nonresident for part of the year.
• You file a short-period return because your accounting period changed.

The married filing separately rule is the one that catches people. If one spouse has a large mortgage and itemizes on a separate return, the other spouse's $16,100 disappears. Run both spouses' numbers before you choose separate returns. IRS Publication 501 has the full rules.

When does itemizing beat the standard deduction in 2026?

You itemize when your Schedule A total is larger than your standard deduction plus age and blindness additions. Several Schedule A rules change for 2026:

The SALT figures come from Public Law 119-21, section 70120. The charitable floor, the non-itemizer charity deduction, and the gambling change are listed in the "What's New" section of Pub 505. The last row only affects taxpayers whose taxable income plus itemized deductions exceeds $640,600 single or $768,700 joint. The itemized deduction limit for the 37% bracket walks through the math.

Don't forget the charity deduction for non-itemizers

Starting in 2026, if you take the standard deduction you can also deduct up to $1,000 ($2,000 married filing jointly) of cash gifts to qualifying charities. Gifts to donor-advised funds and supporting organizations don't count. That raises the bar for itemizing. A joint couple giving $2,000 or more in cash should compare Schedule A against $32,200 + $2,000 = $34,200, not $32,200.

Worked examples: itemize or take the standard deduction?

1. Single renter, $85,000 AGI. State income tax is $4,000 and cash gifts to charity are $3,000.

• Charity after the floor: $3,000 − (0.5% × $85,000 = $425) = $2,575
• Itemized total: $4,000 + $2,575 = $6,575
• Standard route: $16,100 + $1,000 charity deduction = $17,100
• Take the standard deduction. It's $10,525 larger.

2. Married homeowners, $300,000 AGI. They paid $28,000 of state income and property tax, $14,000 of mortgage interest, and $6,000 of cash gifts.

• SALT: $28,000 (under the $40,400 cap)
• Charity: $6,000 − (0.5% × $300,000 = $1,500) = $4,500
• Itemized total: $28,000 + $14,000 + $4,500 = $46,500
• Standard route: $32,200 + $2,000 = $34,200
• Itemize. The extra $12,300 of deductions saves about $12,300 × 24% = $2,952 at their 24% bracket.

3. Single high earner, $560,000 MAGI. She paid $55,000 of state and local tax.

• SALT cap reduction: 30% × ($560,000 − $505,000) = $16,500
• Her SALT cap: $40,400 − $16,500 = $23,900
• She can deduct $23,900 of SALT, not $40,400. At about $606,333 of MAGI, the cap reaches its $10,000 floor.

4. Retired couple, both 67, $120,000 MAGI. Their itemized deductions total $30,000.

• Standard deduction: $32,200 + $3,300 = $35,500
• Take the standard deduction. It beats $30,000.
• The $12,000 senior deduction applies either way, so total deductions are $47,500.

How to read the calculator's results

The inputs are filing status (single, married filing jointly, married filing separately, or head of household), your age and your spouse's age, blindness for each spouse, your modified adjusted gross income, your total itemized deductions, and the tax year (2026 or 2025 amounts).

The result has three parts:

1. Standard vs. itemized. The tool adds the base standard deduction and the age and blindness additions, compares that with your itemized total, and recommends the larger one. The senior deduction is deliberately left out of this comparison, because you get it either way.
2. Senior deduction. $6,000 for each person 65 or older on the return, each reduced by 6% of your MAGI above $75,000 ($150,000 joint). It is $0 on a married-filing-separately return. The line-by-line breakdown shows the reduction per person.
3. Total deductions. The larger of standard or itemized, plus the senior deduction.

For the joint couple, both 67, with $100,000 of MAGI and $25,000 of itemized deductions, the calculator shows a $35,500 standard deduction (take it), a $12,000 senior deduction, and $47,500 of total deductions. Raise MAGI to $180,000 and the senior deduction drops to $4,200 each, $8,400 in total, while the standard-versus-itemized answer doesn't change. With $40,000 of itemized deductions the tool recommends itemizing ($40,000 beats $35,500) and still adds the $12,000.

Limits to keep in mind:

• Dependents aren't modeled. Use the dependent rule above if someone can claim you.
• The $1,000 / $2,000 charity deduction for non-itemizers isn't added. Add it yourself to the standard side when comparing, as in the worked examples.
• Your itemized total should already reflect the 2026 limits — the SALT cap, the 0.5% charity floor, and the 7.5% medical floor. The 2/37 limit for the 37% bracket is not applied.

Common mistakes with the standard deduction

• Confusing the 65+ addition with the senior deduction. You get both. One is $1,650 or $2,050 added to the standard deduction; the other is a separate deduction of up to $6,000 per person on Schedule 1-A.
• Counting estimated tax payments as deductions. Federal estimated payments are prepayments of tax, not Schedule A items. State estimated payments count as SALT only in the year you pay them.
• Ignoring the new 0.5% charity floor. An itemizer with $400,000 of AGI loses the first $2,000 of gifts.
• Putting business expenses on Schedule A. Business costs belong on Schedule C, E, or F. The QBI deduction is also separate and is taken whether or not you itemize; see the QBI deduction calculator.
• Forgetting to update withholding. Payroll withholding assumes the standard deduction. If you will itemize heavily, update your W-4 with the tax withholding calculator.

Bunching deductions to beat the standard deduction

If your Schedule A total sits just below the standard deduction every year, combining two years of deductible gifts into one year can push you over in the bunched year. Then you take the standard deduction, plus the non-itemizer charity deduction, in the off year. For example, a joint couple with $20,000 of SALT, $8,000 of mortgage interest, and $10,000 a year of giving at $200,000 of AGI:

• Every year: $20,000 + $8,000 + ($10,000 − $1,000 floor) = $37,000 itemized vs. $34,200 standard plus charity: itemizing wins by $2,800 a year, or $5,600 over two years.
• Bunching both years' $20,000 of gifts into year one: $20,000 + $8,000 + ($20,000 − $1,000) = $47,000 itemized in year one, then the $32,200 standard deduction in year two with no gifts. That's $79,200 over two years vs. $74,000 without bunching, so bunching adds $5,200 of deductions for the same total giving.

A donor-advised fund lets you bunch the deduction while spreading the grants to charities over time. DAF gifts only help in the itemized year, though; they don't qualify for the $1,000/$2,000 non-itemizer deduction.

For the rest of the 2026 parameters, see the IRS inflation adjustments guide and the OBBBA tax changes guide. If you are close to the phaseout ranges, what MAGI is and how it is calculated explains which income counts.