For the 2026 tax year, every taxpayer can deduct at least the standard deduction: $16,100 if you file single, $32,200 if you’re married filing jointly, and $24,150 for head of household. That amount comes off your income automatically, no receipts required. How much you can deduct on your taxes above that depends on whether your qualifying expenses in specific categories — state and local taxes, mortgage interest, charitable gifts, medical costs above a floor, and a few others — add up to more than the standard amount. There’s no single ceiling on total itemized deductions, but almost every category has its own limit.
The Standard Deduction for 2026
The IRS subtracts the standard deduction from your income before calculating tax. You claim it by default; you don’t need to document anything.
- Single or married filing separately: $16,100
- Married filing jointly or surviving spouse: $32,200
- Head of household: $24,150
These amounts reflect the higher standard deduction the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act introduced in 2018, now made permanent by the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act signed in 2025. Without that extension, the standard deduction would have dropped roughly in half starting in 2026.1Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026, Including Amendments From the One, Big, Beautiful Bill
If you’re 65 or older, or legally blind, you get an additional $1,650 on top of the base amount. Qualifying as both adds $3,300. Married couples where both spouses qualify each claim their own additional amount.1Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026, Including Amendments From the One, Big, Beautiful Bill
Adjustments You Can Claim on Top
Some deductions reduce your adjusted gross income directly and stack with either the standard deduction or itemizing. You claim these on Form 1040 rather than Schedule A, and lowering your AGI can also open up other tax benefits that phase out at higher incomes.
- Health Savings Account contributions: up to $4,400 for self-only coverage or $8,750 for family coverage in 2026.2Internal Revenue Service. Expanded Availability of Health Savings Accounts Under the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act
- Student loan interest: up to $2,500 per year, phasing out between $85,000 and $100,000 of modified AGI ($175,000 to $205,000 for joint filers).
- Educator expenses: eligible teachers can deduct up to $300 in unreimbursed classroom supplies.3Internal Revenue Service. Deducting Teachers Educational Expenses
A single teacher taking the $16,100 standard deduction who also contributes $4,400 to an HSA reduces taxable income by $20,500 before any Schedule A entries.
When Itemizing Beats the Standard Deduction
Itemizing only helps when your qualifying expenses on Schedule A exceed the standard deduction for your filing status.4Internal Revenue Service. About Schedule A (Form 1040), Itemized Deductions The categories that go on Schedule A are:
- Medical and dental costs above an AGI floor
- State and local taxes
- Home mortgage interest
- Charitable contributions
- Casualty losses from declared disasters
A quick gut check: if you don’t own a home, don’t pay high state taxes, and didn’t make large charitable gifts, the standard deduction almost certainly wins. Homeowners in high-tax states who carry a mortgage and give generously are the group most likely to come out ahead by itemizing.
How Much Each Itemized Category Lets You Deduct
State and Local Taxes
The SALT deduction covers state income tax (or sales tax, but not both) plus local property tax. For 2026, the cap is $40,400 for most filers and $20,200 for married filing separately. The cap rises 1% each year through 2029, then drops back to $10,000 ($5,000 for married filing separately) starting in 2030.
High earners face an additional restriction. The $40,400 cap begins shrinking once modified AGI exceeds $505,000 ($252,500 for married filing separately). For every dollar of MAGI above that threshold, the cap drops by 30 cents, though it will not fall below $10,000. This is a significant increase from the flat $10,000 cap that applied from 2018 through 2024, and it makes itemizing worthwhile for many more taxpayers in high-tax areas than under the original TCJA rules.
Home Mortgage Interest
You can deduct interest on up to $750,000 of mortgage debt used to buy, build, or substantially improve your home ($375,000 if married filing separately). The One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act made that limit permanent. Mortgages that originated before December 16, 2017 keep a higher legacy limit of $1,000,000 ($500,000 if married filing separately).5Internal Revenue Service. Publication 936 (2025), Home Mortgage Interest Deduction – Section: Reminders
Medical and Dental Expenses
Only medical costs above 7.5% of your AGI count.6Internal Revenue Service. 2025 Instructions for Schedule A (Form 1040) – Itemized Deductions If your AGI is $80,000, the first $6,000 of medical spending produces zero deduction; only dollars above that floor go on Schedule A. Because of that floor, most people with routine healthcare costs get no medical deduction at all.
Qualifying expenses include doctor and dentist visits, prescriptions, health insurance premiums paid with after-tax dollars, and long-term care insurance. Medical mileage is deductible at 20.5 cents per mile in 2026.7Internal Revenue Service. IRS Sets 2026 Business Standard Mileage Rate at 72.5 Cents Per Mile, Up 2.5 Cents
Charitable Contributions
Cash gifts to public charities are deductible up to 60% of your AGI.8Internal Revenue Service. Publication 526 (2025), Charitable Contributions – Section: Limits on Deductions Contributions of appreciated property generally face a 30% limit, and gifts to certain private foundations are also capped at 30%. Excess amounts carry forward for up to five additional tax years.
For any single contribution of $250 or more, you need a written acknowledgment from the charity showing the amount, whether you received anything in return, and a description of any goods or services provided.9Internal Revenue Service. Charitable Contributions: Written Acknowledgments Without that letter, the IRS can disallow the entire deduction, even if you have a canceled check or credit card statement.
Casualty and Theft Losses
Personal casualty losses are deductible only if they result from a federally declared or state-declared disaster.10Internal Revenue Service. Publication 547 (2025), Casualties, Disasters, and Thefts A burglary, car accident, or house fire outside a declared disaster area produces no deduction. Starting in 2026, state-declared disasters qualify alongside federal ones, a meaningful expansion for people affected by events that didn’t rise to a presidential declaration.
Gambling Losses
You can deduct gambling losses only up to the amount of gambling winnings you report as income. If you lost $15,000 and won $8,000, you can deduct only $8,000.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 165 – Losses Starting in 2026, only the losses from wagers themselves qualify; related expenses like travel or betting-service subscriptions no longer count.
Deductions That No Longer Exist
Several deductions that were common before 2018 are permanently gone under the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act:
- Unreimbursed employee business expenses, tax preparation fees, and investment advisory fees. If you’re a W-2 employee, work uniforms, union dues, and a home office are not deductible.
- Moving expenses, except for active-duty military members relocating under orders.
- Personal exemptions. The $0 exemption amount in place since 2018 is now permanent; the larger standard deduction was the trade-off, and that trade-off is locked in.
Self-employed individuals can still deduct business expenses on Schedule C. That’s a separate provision and isn’t affected by any of the above.
Records You Need to Keep
The IRS can audit a return for three years from the filing date in most situations. That window stretches to six years if you underreported income by more than 25%, and there’s no time limit if you didn’t file or filed fraudulently.12Internal Revenue Service. How Long Should I Keep Records Keep receipts, acknowledgment letters, 1098 forms, and other supporting documents for at least three years after filing.
For medical deductions, save itemized hospital and pharmacy receipts, insurance explanation-of-benefits statements, and a mileage log. For charitable gifts, bank statements cover small cash donations, but anything $250 or more requires the written acknowledgment from the charity.9Internal Revenue Service. Charitable Contributions: Written Acknowledgments
The IRS doesn’t have to prove your expenses were fabricated. They only have to show you can’t substantiate them. The accuracy-related penalty for negligence is 20% of the underpaid tax.13Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 6662 – Imposition of Accuracy-Related Penalty on Underpayments Gross overvaluation of donated property can push that to 40%. Interest on the unpaid balance accrues on top.