What Are Schedule A Deductions on Form 1040?

Schedule A deductions are the itemized write-offs you list on the Schedule A attachment to Form 1040 instead of taking the flat standard deduction. The categories are medical and dental expenses, state and local taxes, home mortgage and investment interest, charitable contributions, casualty and theft losses in federally declared disaster areas, and a short list of other items such as gambling losses up to your gambling winnings. Itemizing only pays off when those totals beat your standard deduction, which for 2026 is $16,100 for single filers, $32,200 for married couples filing jointly, and $24,150 for heads of household.¹

Is Itemizing Worth It

The test is arithmetic. Add up what you can deduct in the categories below. If the total is larger than your standard deduction, itemize. If it isn’t, take the standard deduction and skip Schedule A.² Most filers land on the standard deduction because the amount is generous and the paperwork is nothing. Homeowners with a sizable mortgage, filers in high-tax states, heavy givers, and anyone who had an unusually expensive medical year are the ones who typically clear the bar.

Filers 65 or older, or blind, get an additional standard deduction on top of the figures above, which raises the bar for itemizing further.¹

You can also elect to itemize even when your total is smaller than the standard deduction. Some filers do this because their state return requires it, or because itemizing on the federal return produces a larger state-level benefit. If that’s you, check the election box on Line 18 of Schedule A.³

Medical and Dental Expenses

Unreimbursed medical and dental costs are deductible, but only the portion that exceeds 7.5% of your adjusted gross income. On an $80,000 AGI, the first $6,000 of medical spending doesn’t count; if you paid $9,000, you deduct $3,000.⁴ That floor is why this deduction really only helps in a bad medical year.

Qualifying costs are broad: hospital stays, surgeries, prescription drugs, dental and vision care, mental health treatment, preventive visits, and durable equipment like wheelchairs and hearing aids. Health insurance premiums you pay out of pocket count, but premiums covered by an employer or already deducted elsewhere on your return (for example, the self-employed health insurance deduction on Schedule 1) can’t be counted again.³

Travel to medical appointments is deductible too. For 2026 the standard medical mileage rate is 20.5 cents per mile, and you can use the mileage rate or your actual gas, tolls, and parking.⁵ Across every medical item, the rule is the same: you deduct what you actually paid during the year and were not reimbursed for.

State and Local Taxes

The SALT deduction covers certain taxes you pay to state and local governments, under a combined annual cap. For 2026, the cap is $40,400, or $20,200 if you’re married filing separately.⁶ That’s well above the $10,000 cap that applied from 2018 through 2025 under the original Tax Cuts and Jobs Act; the One Big Beautiful Bill Act raised the limit starting in 2025 and grows it 1% annually through 2029.

Within the cap you can include three things:

State and local income taxes, or general sales taxes if that gives you a larger deduction, but not both
Real estate taxes on property you own
Personal property taxes assessed by value, such as vehicle registration fees calculated on the car’s value

Everything above lands under one ceiling. Pay $25,000 in state income tax and $18,000 in property tax, and the $43,000 combined total gets trimmed to $40,400.⁶

Foreign real property taxes are not deductible under this provision. Foreign income taxes can be deducted on Schedule A or claimed as a foreign tax credit on Form 1116; the credit usually produces a better result, but running the numbers both ways is worth the time.⁷

Mortgage and Investment Interest

Home Mortgage Interest

Interest on a mortgage secured by your primary home or a second home is generally deductible. For loans taken out after December 15, 2017, the deduction covers interest on up to $750,000 of mortgage debt ($375,000 if married filing separately). Loans in place on or before that date get the older limit of $1 million ($500,000 if married filing separately).⁸ The $750,000 limit was made permanent by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

The debt has to be secured by the home and must have been used to buy, build, or substantially improve it. Refinances qualify up to the balance of the mortgage being refinanced. Your lender sends Form 1098 each January showing the interest paid.⁹

Mortgage Points

Points paid to get a mortgage on your main home can often be deducted in full the year you pay them. The loan has to be for buying, building, or improving your principal residence; the points have to be a normal charge in your area, computed as a percentage of the loan; and you must have brought funds to closing at least equal to the points, so you can’t finance the points and still deduct them up front.¹⁰ Points on a refinance or second home usually spread over the life of the loan instead.

Investment Interest

Interest on money borrowed to buy taxable investments such as stocks, bonds, or land held for investment is deductible up to your net investment income for the year. Any excess carries forward. Calculate the deduction on Form 4952.¹¹ Personal loan and credit card interest are not deductible at all.⁸

Charitable Contributions

Gifts to qualifying tax-exempt organizations are deductible: 501(c)(3) nonprofits, religious institutions, and government entities accepting donations for public purposes. Political contributions, gifts to individuals, and donations to organizations without IRS recognition don’t count.¹²

How much you can deduct depends on what you gave and to whom. Cash gifts to public charities are deductible up to 60% of AGI. Appreciated property such as stock donated to a public charity is capped at 30% of AGI. Capital gain property given to certain private foundations is capped at 20%. Anything above the ceiling carries forward for up to five additional years.¹²

Documentation tightens as the amount rises. Any single cash gift of $250 or more needs a written acknowledgment from the organization before you file. Non-cash gifts over $500 require Form 8283. Non-cash gifts over $5,000 (other than publicly traded securities) also require a qualified appraisal from an independent appraiser; the receiving charity can’t act as appraiser.¹³

If you drive your own car doing volunteer work for a qualifying charity, the deductible rate is 14 cents per mile for 2026. That rate is fixed by statute and doesn’t move with inflation.⁵

Casualty and Theft Losses

Personal casualty and theft losses are only deductible when they arise from an event in a federally declared disaster area, meaning one the President has designated. An ordinary house fire, car theft, or burglary outside a disaster declaration is not deductible, however large the loss.¹⁴ This restriction, initially temporary under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, has been made permanent.

Even a qualifying loss gets trimmed twice. Subtract $500 from each separate casualty or theft event, then subtract 10% of your AGI from the annual total. Only what remains is deductible.¹⁴ Insurance proceeds you received or expect to receive also come off the loss. In practice this deduction reaches only a narrow set of filers hit by genuinely catastrophic events.

Gambling Losses and What’s No Longer Deductible

Gambling losses go under “Other Itemized Deductions,” capped at the amount of gambling winnings you reported as income. Win $8,000 and lose $12,000, and the deduction is $8,000. You need records of wins and losses: receipts, tickets, and statements from the establishments.¹⁵

Miscellaneous itemized deductions that used to sit above a 2% AGI floor, including unreimbursed employee expenses, tax preparation fees, and investment advisory fees, are gone. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act suspended them starting in 2018, and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act made the elimination permanent.¹⁶ Older guidance suggesting these return in 2026 is out of date.

Records You’ll Need

Itemizing without documentation invites trouble if the return is examined. Pull the current Schedule A and its instructions from the IRS site so the line numbers match, then gather documents by category:

Medical: insurer explanation of benefits statements, pharmacy receipts, and provider invoices showing what you paid after insurance.
State and local taxes: your W-2 for state and local income tax withheld, and the county assessor’s property tax bill.⁹
Mortgage interest: Form 1098 from your lender.
Charitable donations: bank statements or receipts for cash, written acknowledgments for any single gift of $250 or more, and appraisals for non-cash items over $5,000.
Casualty losses: photos, insurance claim records, and the FEMA disaster declaration number for your area.

Keep the records at least three years after filing, which is the standard IRS audit window for most returns.

1
Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026, Including Amendments From the One, Big, Beautiful Bill
2
Internal Revenue Service. About Schedule A (Form 1040), Itemized Deductions
3
Internal Revenue Service. 2025 Instructions for Schedule A (Form 1040) – Itemized Deductions
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 213 – Medical, Dental, Etc., Expenses
5
Internal Revenue Service. IRS Sets 2026 Business Standard Mileage Rate at 72.5 Cents Per Mile, Up 2.5 Cents
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 164 – Taxes
7
Internal Revenue Service. Foreign Tax Credit – Choosing to Take Credit or Deduction
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 163 – Interest
9
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Schedule A (Form 1040) (2025)
10
Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 504, Home Mortgage Points
11
Internal Revenue Service. About Form 4952, Investment Interest Expense Deduction
12
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 170 – Charitable, Etc., Contributions and Gifts
13
Internal Revenue Service. Charitable Organizations: Substantiating Noncash Contributions
14
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 165 – Losses
15
Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 419, Gambling Income and Losses
16
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 67 – 2-Percent Floor on Miscellaneous Itemized Deductions