2026 Standard Deduction: Amounts for Every Filing Status (Plus 2025, 2024 and 2027)

Key takeaways

• 2026: $16,100 single, $32,200 married filing jointly, $16,100 married filing separately, $24,150 head of household.
• 2025: $15,750 single, $31,500 married filing jointly, $23,625 head of household. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) raised these above the figures the IRS first published in late 2024.
• 2024: $14,600 single, $29,200 married filing jointly, $21,900 head of household.
• Age 65 or older, or blind: add $2,050 (single or head of household) or $1,650 per person (married) for 2026.
• Senior deduction: a separate $6,000 per person age 65 or older for 2025 through 2028. It is not part of the standard deduction, and you can claim it even if you itemize. It phases out above $75,000 of income ($150,000 joint).
• New in 2026: if you take the standard deduction, you can also deduct up to $1,000 ($2,000 joint) of cash gifts to qualifying charities.
• Itemize only if your eligible itemized deductions total more than your standard deduction. The SALT cap is now $40,400 for 2026, which makes itemizing worth a second look in high-tax states.

2026 standard deduction at a glance

This table answers the question most people arrive with. The “2025” column is what you use if you are still working on a 2025 return.

Source: IRS announcement of the 2026 inflation adjustments and Rev. Proc. 2025-32.

What is the standard deduction and how does it work?

The standard deduction is a flat amount the IRS lets you subtract from your adjusted gross income (AGI) before your tax brackets are applied. Some people call it the std deduction, the standardized deduction or, less accurately, the standard exemption. The amount depends mainly on your filing status. You do not need receipts or proof of spending to claim it.

You choose between two methods every year: take the standard deduction, or itemize on Schedule A. You cannot do both. Because the standard deduction nearly doubled in 2018 and has since been made permanent, most filers take it. In tax year 2020, only about 10% of filers itemized, according to the Tax Policy Center.

A simple example

Say you are single with $75,000 of AGI in 2026.

• Standard deduction: $16,100
• Taxable income: $75,000 – $16,100 = $58,900
• Federal income tax on $58,900 using the 2026 single brackets: $1,240 (10%) + $4,560 (12%) + $1,870 (22%) = $7,670, before credits

Without the deduction, you would be taxed on the full $75,000, which comes to about $11,212. The deduction saves $3,542, which is $16,100 taxed at the 22% rate.

The personal exemption is $0

Before 2018, you also subtracted a personal exemption for yourself and each dependent. That exemption is $0 for 2026, as it has been since 2018. The larger standard deduction does that job now. If you searched for the “standard exemption,” the standard deduction is the figure you want.

2026 standard deduction by filing status

Single filers: $16,100

The single standard deduction for 2026 is $16,100, up $350 from 2025. Most single filers, especially renters, take the standard deduction because their mortgage interest, state taxes and gifts rarely add up to more than $16,100.

Married filing jointly: $32,200

The 2026 standard deduction for married filing jointly is $32,200, which is exactly twice the single amount and $700 more than 2025. Add $1,650 for each spouse who is 65 or older or blind. Couples with a large mortgage and high property and state taxes are the group most likely to come out ahead by itemizing.

Married filing separately: $16,100

Married filing separately gets the same $16,100 as a single filer. There is one trap: if your spouse itemizes, you cannot take the standard deduction. You must itemize too, even if your itemized total is smaller. Married filing separately also rules you out of the senior deduction.

Head of household: $24,150

Heads of household get $24,150 for 2026, up $525 from 2025. You generally qualify if you are unmarried, pay more than half the cost of keeping up a home, and a qualifying child or relative lived with you for more than half the year.

Qualifying surviving spouse: $32,200

A qualifying surviving spouse with a dependent child gets the same $32,200 as a joint filer, for up to two years after the year the spouse died.

2026 standard deduction over 65 (and for blind taxpayers)

Two different tax breaks can apply to you at 65 or older. They are easy to mix up, and they stack.

Layer 1: the additional standard deduction for age 65+ or blind

This is a permanent part of the tax code, it is indexed to inflation, and it has no income limit.

Here is what your total standard deduction looks like in 2026 with this layer added:

Layer 2: the $6,000 senior deduction (2025 to 2028)

The OBBBA created a separate deduction of up to $6,000 for each taxpayer age 65 or older by the end of the year. It runs for tax years 2025 through 2028. It is a different deduction from the standard deduction, so you may claim it whether you take the standard deduction or itemize. You claim it on Schedule 1-A, and it flows to line 13b of the 2025 Form 1040.

Key rules:

• Each qualifying person gets up to $6,000, so a couple can reach $12,000.
• It phases out by 6% of your modified AGI (MAGI) above $75,000 for single and head of household filers, or $150,000 for joint filers.
• A valid Social Security number is required.
• Married couples must file jointly. Married filing separately does not qualify.
• The amount is fixed by law at $6,000. It does not rise with inflation.

How the phase-out works

The formula is: $6,000 minus 6% of the amount your MAGI exceeds the threshold, never below zero. A single filer at $130,000 of MAGI is $55,000 over the line, so the reduction is $3,300 and the deduction is $2,700. On a joint return, the reduction is figured for each qualifying spouse, which is why a couple with both spouses 65 or older loses the full deduction at $250,000. Check IRS Schedule 1-A for the exact lines.

Maximum combined deduction for seniors in 2026

Retirees should note that a large required minimum distribution, or a big capital gain, can raise MAGI enough to shrink the senior deduction. Tax planning before year-end can help you manage that.

2025 standard deduction (tax year 2025, filed in 2026)

The 2025 standard deduction is $15,750 for single filers and married filing separately, $31,500 for married filing jointly and surviving spouses, and $23,625 for heads of household. These are the amounts for returns filed in 2026, including extended returns.

The IRS first announced lower numbers for 2025 ($15,000, $30,000 and $22,500) in late 2024. The OBBBA then raised the 2025 base amounts, and the IRS confirmed the higher figures in its October 2025 announcement. If you see the lower numbers on an older page, they are out of date. The jump from 2024 was about 7.9% for single filers.

The $6,000 senior deduction also applied for 2025. A single filer 65 or older could deduct up to $23,750 in total ($15,750 + $2,000 + $6,000), and a married couple with both spouses 65 or older up to $46,700 ($31,500 + $3,200 + $12,000).

2025 federal income tax brackets and standard deduction

The standard deduction is subtracted first, and then these brackets apply to the taxable income that is left. The figures below are taxable-income thresholds, where each rate starts.

In practice, a single filer owes no federal income tax on the first $16,100 of income in 2026 before other adjustments, because the standard deduction wipes it out.

IRS standard deduction chart: 2024 to 2027

Here are the base amounts for every year in one place. The 2027 row is a projection and not an IRS figure.

Standard deduction 2025 vs 2024

Additional standard deduction for 65+ or blind, by year

2024 standard deduction (what was the standard deduction for 2024?)

The 2024 standard deduction was $14,600 for single filers and married filing separately, $29,200 for married filing jointly, and $21,900 for heads of household, per the IRS. For 2024, the 65-or-older amount was $1,950 for single filers and heads of household and $1,550 per person for married filers.

• Single, 65 or older: $14,600 + $1,950 = $16,550
• Married filing jointly, one spouse 65+: $29,200 + $1,550 = $30,750
• Married filing jointly, both spouses 65+: $29,200 + $3,100 = $32,300
• Head of household, 65 or older: $21,900 + $1,950 = $23,850

The $6,000 senior deduction did not exist for 2024, and if you need to fix a 2024 return, see our guide on how to file an amended tax return.

2027 standard deduction (projected)

The IRS has not announced official 2027 amounts as of October 27, 2026. It usually publishes them in a revenue procedure in October or November, and the 2026 figures came out on October 9, 2025. The numbers below come from Bloomberg Tax’s September 2026 projection, which assumes about a 3.2% inflation adjustment. Treat them as planning estimates only.

The $6,000 senior deduction stays at $6,000 in 2027 because the law fixes it through 2028. The 2027 amounts affect your 2027 paycheck withholding and your return filed in 2028, not the return you are filing for 2026.

Standard deduction for dependents

If someone else can claim you as a dependent, your standard deduction is limited. For 2026 it is the greater of $1,350 or your earned income plus $450, and it can never be more than the regular standard deduction for your filing status. For 2025 the limits were the same, and for 2024 the flat floor was $1,300.

• A teenager who earned $6,000 at a summer job in 2026: $6,000 + $450 = $6,450, which is above $1,350, so the deduction is $6,450.
• A student with only $500 of interest income: the deduction is $1,350 because the floor is higher than $500 + $450.

California standard deduction 2025

California sets its own, much lower, standard deduction. For tax year 2025, the Franchise Tax Board lists $5,706 for single filers and married or registered domestic partners filing separately, and $11,412 for married filing jointly, head of household and qualifying surviving spouse. For 2024, the amounts were $5,540 and $11,080. Because California’s deduction is small, more California taxpayers come out ahead by itemizing on their state return, even when they take the standard deduction on their federal return.

Standard deduction vs itemized deductions: how to decide in 2026

You should itemize only if your eligible itemized deductions add up to more than your standard deduction. For 2026 that bar is $16,100 for single filers, $32,200 for married filing jointly, and $24,150 for heads of household. You cannot claim both, and you choose again every year.

What counts as an itemized deduction in 2026

• State and local taxes (SALT): property tax plus state income or sales tax. The cap was $10,000 until 2024. It rose to $40,000 for 2025 and is $40,400 for 2026. It shrinks by 30 cents per dollar of MAGI above $505,000 and never falls below $10,000. Married filing separately gets half of each figure. The higher cap is scheduled to return to $10,000 in 2030.
• Mortgage interest: on home acquisition debt up to $750,000. Mortgage insurance premiums become deductible again starting in 2026.
• Medical and dental expenses: only the part above 7.5% of your AGI.
• Charitable gifts: cash and property to qualifying charities, with a written acknowledgment for gifts of $250 or more. Starting in 2026, itemizers can deduct only the amount of giving above 0.5% of AGI. Higher earners in the 37% bracket also face a new limit on how much tax value itemized deductions can produce.
• Casualty losses from a federally declared disaster.

Quick examples (2026)

Deductions you can claim whether you itemize or not

A few of the newer breaks are claimed separately from Schedule A. That is one reason the standard deduction is even more attractive than it was a few years ago.

• Senior deduction: up to $6,000 per person age 65 or older (2025 to 2028), subject to the income phase-out described above.
• Cash charitable deduction for non-itemizers: up to $1,000 ($2,000 joint), starting with tax year 2026. It applies to cash gifts to qualifying charities only. It does not apply to donated goods, and it was not available for 2025.
• Tips and overtime deductions: new deductions for qualified tip income and the premium portion of overtime pay, for 2025 through 2028, with income limits. Check the IRS guidance for the caps.

Mistakes to avoid

• Assuming the method that won last year still wins. Your income, home costs and giving change.
• Comparing one expense, such as mortgage interest alone, with the standard deduction. Compare your total itemized deductions.
• Missing records for charity or medical costs, which can sink a deduction in an audit.
• Forgetting that if one spouse itemizes on a separate return, the other must itemize too.
• Mixing personal and business expenses.

Records checklist if you plan to itemize

Keep Form 1098 mortgage interest statements, property tax bills, state tax payment records, medical receipts, and bank records or written acknowledgments from charities. The IRS generally advises keeping tax records for 3 to 7 years depending on the situation.

Year-round planning: bunching

If your itemized total sits just under the standard deduction, you can bunch deductible costs into alternating years. For example, you might make two years of charitable gifts in one year, then take the standard deduction the next year. Our tax planning and advisory team can model this for your numbers.

How to claim the standard deduction on Form 1040

1. Confirm your filing status as of December 31 of the tax year.
2. Check whether you must itemize. The main case is married filing separately when your spouse itemizes.
3. Find your amount. Use the table above, then add any age or blindness amounts.
4. Enter it on Form 1040. On the 2025 form this is line 12, and the senior deduction from Schedule 1-A goes on line 13b. Tax software does this when you choose the standard deduction.
5. Keep your return. You do not need receipts for the standard deduction, but you do need records for any income or credits you claim.

The IRS explains the rules in Topic no. 551, Standard deduction and Publication 501. For a hands-off option, KMK Ventures prepares individual tax returns and compares both methods for you.

Who cannot take the standard deduction

• A married person filing separately whose spouse itemizes.
• A nonresident alien, in most cases.
• Someone filing a short-year return because of a change in accounting period.
• Estates and trusts.

How the standard deduction affects your paycheck

People often ask, “how much is my paycheck taxed?” There is no single answer, but the standard deduction is part of it. Federal income tax withholding follows the IRS tables and your Form W-4, and those tables already assume you will take the standard deduction. Social Security (6.2%) and Medicare (1.45%) are taken on top of that. If you expect to itemize or claim big deductions, you can adjust the W-4 so less is withheld. Not sure what the codes on your wage statement mean? See our guide to W-2 Box 12 codes.