Standard Deduction (2024)

FAQs

Standard Deduction? ›

The standard deduction is a fixed dollar amount that taxpayers can subtract from their adjusted gross income to reduce their taxable income. It's available to taxpayers who do not itemize deductions, and the amount you get to deduct varies depending on filing status and other factors. Internal Revenue Service.

You should itemize deductions on Schedule A (Form 1040), Itemized Deductions if the total amount of your allowable itemized deductions is greater than your standard deduction or if you must itemize deductions because you can't use the standard deduction.

If you are 65 or older and blind, the extra standard deduction is: $3,700 if you are single or filing as head of household. $3,000 per qualifying individual if you are married, filing jointly or separately.

If your deductions exceed income earned and you had tax withheld from your paycheck, you might be entitled to a refund. You may also be able to claim a net operating loss (NOLs). A Net Operating Loss is when your deductions for the year are greater than your income in that same year.

To reap the benefits of deductions without the hassle of itemization, Backman notes you'll need line items that fall into these categories — contributions to your IRA, contributions to your HSA (health savings account), expenses you incur as a teacher like purchasing classroom supplies, and interest on student loans.

Itemized deductions are expenses the taxpayer incurred, such as mortgage interest, state or local income taxes, property taxes, medical or dental expenses, or charitable donations.

Social Security income can be taxable no matter how old you are. It all depends on whether your total combined income exceeds a certain level set for your filing status. You may have heard that Social Security income is not taxed after age 70; this is false.

IRS extra standard deduction for older adults

For 2023, the additional standard deduction is $1,850 if you are single or file as head of household. If you're married, filing jointly or separately, the extra standard deduction amount is $1,500 per qualifying individual.

When you're over 65, the standard deduction increases. The specific amount depends on your filing status and changes each year. The standard deduction for seniors this year is actually the 2022 amount, filed by April 2023.

Why would a person choose a standard deduction over itemized deductions? ›

Claiming the standard deduction is easier because you don't have to keep track of what you spend throughout the year. You also don't need to hold on to supporting documents like receipts, bank statements, medical bills and tax forms.

The size of your standard deduction depends on a few factors: your age, your income and your filing status.

The standard deduction is a specific dollar amount that reduces the amount of taxable income. The standard deduction consists of the sum of the basic standard deduction and any additional standard deduction amounts for age and/or blindness. In general, the IRS adjusts the standard deduction each year for inflation.

Yes, Medicare premiums are tax deductible as a medical expense as long as you meet two requirements. First, you must itemize your deductions on your tax return to deduct them from your taxable income. Second, only medical expenses that exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income (AGI) are deductible.

Health insurance premiums are deductible if you itemize your tax return. Whether you can deduct health insurance premiums from your tax return also depends on when and how you pay your premiums: If you pay for health insurance before taxes are taken out of your check, you can't deduct your health insurance premiums.

To claim the medical expense deduction, you must itemize your deductions. Itemizing requires that you don't take the standard deduction. Normally, you should only claim the medical expenses deduction if your itemized deductions are greater than your standard deduction (TurboTax can also do this calculation for you).

Disadvantages of itemized deductions

Itemizing expenses means you must usually keep a receipt to prove the eligible expense, which some people may find troublesome. Additionally, the rules limiting how much of each eligible expense may be deducted may prove less convenient as well.

Standard deductions have filing limitations.

You won't be able to take a standard deduction in a few scenarios. For instance, if you are married but filing separately, you may not be able to take the standard deduction if your spouse itemizes. The same is true if you are claimed as a dependent on someone else's return.

If the value of expenses that you can deduct is more than the standard deduction (as noted above, for the tax year 2023 these are: $13,850 for single and married filing separately, $27,700 for married filing jointly, and $20,800 for heads of households) then you should consider itemizing.

Generally, if your standard deduction is greater than the sum of the itemized deductions for which you qualify, then you just take the standard deduction instead. The size of your standard deduction depends on a few factors: your age, your income and your filing status.