Standard Deduction: Amounts, Extra Amounts, and Eligibility

If you file a U.S. federal income tax return as a citizen or resident alien, you generally qualify for the standard deduction, and for the 2026 tax year it ranges from $16,100 for single filers to $32,200 for married couples filing jointly. Standard deduction eligibility turns mostly on your filing status, but age, blindness, dependent status, residency, and your spouse’s choices can all change the amount you receive, or eliminate it entirely.¹

2026 Amounts by Filing Status

The basic standard deduction for the 2026 tax year is:²

Single: $16,100
Married filing jointly or qualifying surviving spouse: $32,200
Head of household: $24,150
Married filing separately: $16,100

You claim the standard deduction simply by not itemizing on Schedule A.³ The amounts above apply before any add-ons for age or blindness, and before the separate enhanced senior deduction discussed below.

Extra Amount if You Are 65 or Older or Blind

If you are at least 65 by the end of the tax year, or legally blind, you get an additional standard deduction on top of the basic amount. If you are both, you get two additional amounts.⁴

For 2026, the additional amounts are:

Single or head of household, 65 or older, or blind: $2,050
Single or head of household, 65 or older and blind: $4,100
Married (filing jointly or separately), 65 or older, or blind: $1,650 per qualifying spouse
Married (filing jointly or separately), 65 or older and blind: $3,300 per qualifying spouse

The additions are per person. On a joint return where both spouses are 65 or older, each adds $1,650.

The Birthday Rule

The IRS treats you as turning 65 on the day before your 65th birthday. A taxpayer born on January 1, 1962 is considered 65 by the end of the 2026 tax year and qualifies for the age-based add-on.⁵

What Counts as Legally Blind

You qualify for the blindness add-on if your best corrected vision in your better eye is 20/200 or worse, or if your field of vision is 20 degrees or less. You need a certified statement from an ophthalmologist or optometrist documenting the condition.⁶

Enhanced Deduction for Seniors, 2025 Through 2028

A separate deduction created by the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act is available to taxpayers 65 or older from tax year 2025 through 2028. It is worth up to $6,000 per qualifying person, or $12,000 for a married couple filing jointly if both spouses are 65 or older. It stacks on top of both the basic standard deduction and the age-based add-on.⁷

To claim it, you must:⁵

Be 65 or older by the end of the tax year (same birthday rule)
Have a valid Social Security number issued before the due date of your return, including extensions
File a joint return if you are married

Unlike the age-based add-on, you can claim the enhanced deduction whether you take the standard deduction or itemize.⁵

The enhanced deduction phases out once your modified adjusted gross income exceeds $75,000 (single) or $150,000 (married filing jointly). It shrinks gradually above those thresholds and eventually reaches zero. Below the thresholds, you receive the full amount.⁷

If Someone Can Claim You as a Dependent

Your standard deduction is limited when someone else can claim you as a dependent. Instead of the full amount for your filing status, your deduction is capped at the greater of:⁴

A flat minimum ($1,350 for the 2025 tax year), or
Your earned income plus a small margin ($450 for the 2025 tax year), up to the regular standard deduction for your filing status

Both figures adjust for inflation, and the IRS publishes the current amounts in Topic No. 551.⁸

Earned income (wages, salaries, self-employment pay) is treated more favorably than unearned income under this formula. A dependent teenager earning $5,000 from a part-time job shelters more of that income than a dependent child with $5,000 in interest or dividends. The flat minimum acts as a floor for dependents whose income is entirely from investments.

A dependent who is also 65 or older or blind still receives the age or blindness add-on on top of the limited base amount.⁴ This most often comes up with an elderly relative claimed as a dependent by an adult child.

Separate from the deduction limit, a child’s unearned income above $2,700 is generally taxed at the parent’s rate under the “kiddie tax,” reported on Form 8615. The rule covers children under 18 and some older children who are full-time students.⁹

Who Cannot Take the Standard Deduction

Four categories of filers get a standard deduction of zero:⁴

Married filing separately, when your spouse itemizes on their own return
Nonresident aliens and dual-status aliens
Filers submitting a short-year return because they changed their annual accounting period
Estates, trusts, common trust funds, and partnerships

The Matching Rule for Married Filing Separately

If one spouse itemizes on a separate return, the other must itemize too, even when their itemized total falls short of what the standard deduction would have been. Expenses paid from joint accounts are generally split, and each spouse should keep records showing who paid what.¹⁰

Exceptions for Nonresident Aliens

A nonresident alien married to a U.S. citizen or resident alien can claim the standard deduction by making a joint election to be treated as a U.S. resident for the full tax year. Both spouses must agree, and the election continues in later years until a termination event occurs.⁸¹¹ Students and business apprentices from India who qualify under the U.S.–India tax treaty may also claim the standard deduction.

Adding a Disaster Loss Without Itemizing

If you had property damage or loss from a federally declared disaster, you can add your net qualified disaster loss to your standard deduction. You report the loss on Form 4684 and add the resulting amount to your standard deduction through Schedule A, with the increased total replacing the regular standard deduction on your return.¹²

Qualified disaster losses also skip the usual reduction equal to 10% of your adjusted gross income, and the per-event floor is $500 rather than the standard $100.¹² Which disasters qualify depends on presidential declarations tied to specific date ranges, so check the current Form 4684 instructions for the year you are filing.¹³

If You Claim It When You Shouldn’t

Take the standard deduction when you are not eligible, and the IRS can adjust your return and assess additional tax. You would owe the unpaid balance plus a failure-to-pay penalty of 0.5% of the unpaid tax for each month it remains outstanding, up to 25%. Interest accrues from the original due date of the return until the balance is paid.¹⁴ Checking the disqualifying categories before you file is the cheapest way to avoid that outcome.

1
Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026
2
IRS.gov. Rev. Proc. 2025-32
3
Internal Revenue Service. Tax Basics: Understanding the Difference Between Standard and Itemized Deductions
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 63 – Taxable Income Defined
5
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 554 (2025), Tax Guide for Seniors
6
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 501 (2025), Dependents, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information
7
Internal Revenue Service. Check Your Eligibility for the New Enhanced Deduction for Seniors
8
Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 551, Standard Deduction
9
Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 553, Tax on a Child’s Investment and Other Unearned Income
10
Internal Revenue Service. Itemized Deductions, Standard Deduction
11
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 6013 – Joint Returns of Income Tax by Husband and Wife
12
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 547 (2025), Casualties, Disasters, and Thefts
13
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 4684
14
Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 653, IRS Notices and Bills, Penalties and Interest Charges