Which deduction is bigger?
Everyone who does not itemize takes the standard deduction, a fixed amount that depends on filing status. For 2026 it is $16,100 for single filers and married couples filing separately, $24,150 for heads of household and $32,200 for married couples filing jointly (IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32). Each box for age 65 or older or blindness adds $1,650, or $2,050 if you are unmarried. You itemize only when your allowed itemized deductions add up to more. This calculator totals them using the 2026 rules and compares the result.
What counts when you itemize
- State and local taxes (SALT). You can deduct state and local income tax (or sales tax) plus property tax, up to a cap. Under the 2025 tax law the cap is $40,000 in 2025 and $40,400 in 2026, but it is reduced by 30% of the amount by which your modified adjusted gross income exceeds $505,000 (2026), and it cannot fall below $10,000. For married filing separately, every figure is half.
- Mortgage interest on up to $750,000 of acquisition debt, and mortgage insurance premiums as the law now allows.
- Medical expenses only to the extent they exceed 7.5% of your AGI. With a $180,000 AGI, the first $13,500 is not deductible at all.
- Charitable gifts. For 2026 itemizers can deduct gifts only above 0.5% of AGI, so a $180,000 AGI disallows the first $900.
- Other items such as casualty losses from federally declared disasters, entered in the last field.
The new charity rule for non-itemizers
Beginning in 2026, taxpayers who take the standard deduction can also deduct up to $1,000 of cash gifts to qualifying public charities ($2,000 on a joint return). Gifts to donor-advised funds and private non-operating foundations do not qualify, and neither do non-cash gifts. The calculator adds this amount to the standard side automatically, using the cash line you enter. Because of this, the standard deduction is effectively a little higher for anyone who gives.
Example
A married couple filing jointly has $200,000 of AGI, $12,000 of state income tax, $9,000 of property tax, $15,000 of mortgage interest and $6,000 of cash gifts to their church. Their SALT total of $21,000 is under the cap and counts fully. Their charity deduction is $6,000 minus 0.5% of $200,000 ($1,000), or $5,000. Total itemized deductions are $21,000 + $15,000 + $5,000 = $41,000. Their standard deduction plus the non-itemizer charity deduction would be $32,200 + $2,000 = $34,200, so itemizing wins by $6,800. If their mortgage interest were $5,000 instead, itemizing would total $31,000 and the standard deduction would win.
If you are close to the line
When your itemized total is within a few thousand dollars of the standard deduction, the timing of expenses matters. You can sometimes pay a January property tax bill in December, make next year’s charitable gifts early, or schedule elective medical care in one year. Alternating between itemizing one year and taking the standard deduction the next is called bunching; see the bunching calculator and our full guide. Prepaying a state income tax bill is limited to what you actually owe, and remember that the SALT cap often makes extra state tax payments useless.