Standard vs. Itemized Deduction Calculator (2026)

Take whichever is larger. The 2026 standard deduction is $16,100 for a single filer, $32,200 for a joint return and $24,150 for a head of household, plus $2,050 (unmarried) or $1,650 (married) for each person who is 65 or older and for each who is blind (Revenue Procedure 2025-32, section 3.14). Itemizing adds up state and local taxes (up to the cap), mortgage interest, medical costs above 7.5% of income and gifts to charity, and is worth it only when that total beats the standard figure. The standard route also gets up to $1,000 ($2,000 joint) for cash gifts, so the comparison here counts that.

Example (the calculator's starting inputs): a married couple with $150,000 of income pays $9,000 of state income tax, $8,000 of property tax and $14,000 of mortgage interest on a $400,000 loan and gives $6,000 in cash. State and local taxes of $17,000 + interest $14,000 + gifts $5,250 (after the $750 floor) = $36,250, against $34,200 on the standard route ($32,200 + the $2,000 gift allowance). Itemizing wins by $2,050 and saves about $451 of tax at the 22% bracket.

For 2026 the cap is $40,400, for state and local income tax (or sales tax) plus property tax together (26 U.S.C. 164(b)(7)). It is cut by 30 cents for each dollar your modified AGI is over $505,000, but never below $10,000, so it stops falling at an income of about $606,333. Example: with $550,000 of income the cap is $26,900. The cap applies to a joint return as one amount, not per spouse, and half of it applies to a married person filing separately. From 2030 the cap is $10,000 again by law. In the income range where the cap is falling, every extra dollar of income also removes 30 cents of deduction, which is a hidden extra tax.

Starting in 2026, if you itemize, only the part of your gifts above 0.5% of your AGI is deductible (26 U.S.C. 170(b)(1)(I)). With $200,000 of AGI the first $1,000 of giving is not deductible: a $5,000 gift deducts $4,000. The floor comes off gifts of stock first and cash last, after the usual limits (cash up to 60% of AGI, long-term stock up to 30%).

A disallowed amount is not lost when you also gave more than a percentage limit allows: the statute adds it to the carryover for that category (170(d)(1)(C)). Example: $400,000 of cash on $500,000 of AGI deducts $297,500 (the 60% limit $300,000 less the $2,500 floor) and carries $102,500 forward. Without an excess the floor amount is simply lost. The IRS has not published forms or guidance on the ordering and carryover yet, so this tool follows the statute's wording. Qualified charitable distributions from an IRA are not deductions, so the floor does not touch them.

Yes, a smaller amount: up to $1,000 ($2,000 on a joint return) of cash gifts to public charities, on top of the standard deduction, from 2026 (26 U.S.C. 170(p), up from $300 and $600). It is for cash only: stock and other property do not count, and neither do gifts to donor-advised funds or to supporting organizations. This is why giving through a donor-advised fund can leave you worse off in a year you do not itemize.

If you are in the 37% bracket, section 68 reduces your itemized deductions by 2/37 of the lesser of the deductions themselves and the part of your income above where the 37% bracket starts ($640,600 for single filers and heads of household, $768,700 for joint returns in 2026). A dollar of deduction then saves 35 cents instead of 37. Example: a single filer with $1,000,000 of income and $100,000 of itemized deductions loses $5,405 of them. Other taxpayers are not affected.

Yes, on up to $750,000 of loans used to buy, build or improve your main home and one other home ($1,000,000 for loans taken out on or before December 15, 2017), and not on a home equity loan used for anything else (26 U.S.C. 163(h)(3)). If your loans are above the limit, Publication 936's Table 1 allows a share of the interest. Example: $900,000 of older loans and $300,000 of newer ones with $48,000 of interest: the limit is $900,000, so 75% counts, $36,000.

From 2026, premiums for private, FHA, VA and rural housing mortgage insurance on a loan to buy a home count as interest again. The amount is reduced by 10% for each $1,000, or part of $1,000, that your AGI is over $100,000, and is gone at $110,000.

Only the part above 7.5% of your AGI is deductible (26 U.S.C. 213(a)); the list of qualifying costs is in Publication 502 (the calculator takes the total you enter). Example: $9,000 of unreimbursed costs on $60,000 of AGI deducts $4,500, after the $4,500 floor. Costs paid from a health savings account or reimbursed by insurance are not counted.

The 2026 Schedule A and its instructions are not published yet, and the IRS has not issued guidance on how the 0.5% floor and the 2/37 cutback fit with carryovers and the QBI deduction, so this tool follows the statute. Other reasons: the alternative minimum tax; capital gains and dividends taxed at their own rates (this tool taxes ordinary income only); credits; state rules (many states let you itemize even when you take the standard deduction federally, or the other way round); and a modified AGI that adds excluded foreign income. Married couples filing separately must both itemize or both take the standard deduction, which this tool does not model.