Tax guide6 min read · Updated October 8, 2026

Standard vs Itemized Deduction: Which Should You Take?

Take whichever is larger. The standard deduction is a flat amount set by your filing status. Itemizing means adding up specific expenses such as mortgage interest, state and local taxes and charitable gifts, and using that total instead.

By Amara Taylor

The standard deduction amounts

Filers who are 65 or older or blind get an additional standard deduction, and the amount you can claim is limited if someone else can claim you as a dependent. The 2026 figures come from IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32 and the 2025 figures from the IRS.

What you can itemize

You itemize on Schedule A of Form 1040. The IRS lists these categories: state and local income or sales taxes, real property taxes and personal property taxes, home mortgage interest, gifts to charity, disaster losses, certain gambling losses, and medical and dental expenses. Most come with limits. For 2025 returns, the Schedule A instructions set these:

• State and local taxes. The deduction is capped at $40,000 ($20,000 if married filing separately), and the cap shrinks for modified adjusted gross income above $500,000, down to a floor of $10,000.
• Medical and dental expenses. Only the part above 7.5% of adjusted gross income counts.
• Mortgage interest. Interest is deductible on up to $750,000 of debt for loans taken out after December 15, 2017, and up to $1,000,000 for older loans.
• Charitable gifts. Cash gifts are generally limited to 30% of adjusted gross income, and gifts of appreciated property to 20%, with excess carried forward up to five years.

Check the Schedule A instructions for the year you are filing, because limits can change.

A worked comparison

A single filer earns $95,000 in 2026. The example expenses are made up: $9,800 of mortgage interest, $8,000 of state income and property taxes (well under the cap) and $1,800 of charitable gifts, for $19,600 in total.

Itemizing saves $770. That is the extra $3,500 of deduction taxed at the filer’s 22% marginal rate.

Change one number and the answer flips. If the same filer’s itemized total were $12,000, taxable income would be $83,000 and the tax $12,972, which is $902 more than the standard deduction. Itemizing would cost money.

Quick checks before you decide

• Add up your itemizable expenses for the year and compare the total with the standard deduction for your filing status.
• If you are close, tax software or a preparer can test both. You can pick a different method each year.
• If you are married filing separately and your spouse itemizes, you cannot take the standard deduction.
• Charitable gifts that fall just short of the threshold in one year can sometimes be grouped into alternating years so that every second year you itemize. Whether that works depends on your numbers.
• Recent law added separate deductions for qualified tips, overtime, car loan interest and an extra senior deduction. They have their own rules and income limits, so read the IRS fact sheet before counting them.

This guide is general information, not tax advice. Sources: IRS Topic 501, Should I itemize?, IRS Instructions for Schedule A (2025), IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32, IRS federal income tax rates and brackets. Figures last checked October 8, 2026. See our editorial standards.

Last updated: October 8, 2026 · Written by Amara Taylor, Content Lead, Anchor AI Tools.