The standard deduction is a powerful tool for reducing your tax bill. It lowers your income — specifically, your adjusted gross income, or AGI — and thus reduces how much of your income is subject to taxes. If you’re a single filer, the current standard deduction will trim your AGI by $14,600, and that jumps to $29,200 if you’re married and filing jointly.
How the standard deduction works
The standard deduction reduces your adjusted gross income (AGI) and thus lowers your federal tax bill. The IRS determines the standard deduction, generally increasing the amount every year to account for inflation. The amount you can deduct depends on your filing status. And if you’re 65 or older and/or visually impaired, you can claim an additional standard deduction (more on that below).
Taxpayers must choose between claiming the standard deduction and itemizing their deductions. Itemizing means you add up your list of qualified expenses. (The IRS determines what you can and can’t claim as an itemized expense.) When making this choice, you want to choose the bigger number, because the higher your deduction amount — either the standard deduction or your total itemized deductions — the lower your tax bill.
You subtract either the standard deduction or your total itemized deductions from your AGI, and the result is your taxable income. Check out line 12 of Form 1040 to see the IRS instructions.
Because the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 almost doubled the amount of the standard deduction, plus reduced some of the itemized deductions available to taxpayers, the vast majority of people now claim the standard deduction.
The good news is that claiming the standard deduction is a lot easier than itemizing. Itemizing entails gathering paperwork and making sure you follow some complex rules, while claiming the standard deduction is as simple as finding the dollar amount that applies to your filing status.
How much is the current standard deduction worth?
Standard deduction for 2024
Here are the current standard deduction amounts for 2024, for returns filed in 2025:
| Filing status | 2024 standard deduction amount |
| Single | $14,600 |
| Head of household | $21,900 |
| Married filing jointly | $29,200 |
| Qualifying surviving spouse | $29,200 |
| Married filing separately | $14,600 |
Standard deduction for 2025
Here are the current standard deduction amounts for 2025, for returns filed in 2026.
| Filing status | 2025 standard deduction amount |
| Single | $15,000 |
| Head of household | $22,500 |
| Married filing jointly | $30,000 |
| Qualifying surviving spouse | $30,000 |
| Married filing separately | $15,000 |
Standard deduction vs. itemized deductions
Generally, you want to claim the standard deduction if it’s a higher amount than the sum of all of your itemized deductions. That means, when choosing between claiming the standard deduction and itemizing, you first need to know what your itemized deductions add up to.
Itemizing your deductions lets you deduct the actual amount of specific expenses from your taxable income, up to IRS limits. Common itemized deductions include mortgage interest, charitable contributions and eligible medical expenses.
Another popular itemized deduction is the state and local taxes (SALT) deduction, currently capped at $10,000 per year, due to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the cap is set to expire after 2025, so Congress may extend or modify it).
For it to make sense to itemize, the total amount of your itemized deductions should exceed the standard deduction for your filing status. For example, if you’re married and file jointly, your standard deduction is $29,200 in 2024. Your itemized deductions need to exceed that dollar amount for itemizing to reduce your tax bill more than the standard deduction.
Otherwise, it makes more financial sense to claim the standard deduction. Plus, there’s less paperwork and record-keeping to worry about.
Extra standard deduction for older or visually impaired taxpayers
Taxpayers who are 65 or older, or who are blind, receive an extra standard deduction, on top of the regular one. On Form 1040 (or Form 1040SR, the tax return for seniors that has larger type), you can check one box if you’re 65 or older and a second box if you’re visually impaired.
If you’re married, there’s a box for your spouse to check if they’re 65 or older, and a box to check if they’re visually impaired. For married couples, the age and vision of each spouse is counted separately, meaning that an older couple could check up to four boxes, each worth an additional standard deduction. The total number of checked boxes determines the standard deduction amount.
In 2024 (for returns filed in 2025), the extra standard deduction for a taxpayer who is 65 or older, or blind, and…
- …married, is $1,550, per qualifying spouse.
- …not married (and doesn’t qualify as a surviving spouse) is $1,950.
Those amounts are doubled if you’re 65 or older and visually impaired.
Here are some examples of the value of the extra standard deduction for 65 or older and/or blind taxpayers, by filing status, for 2024, for returns filed in 2025:
| Filing status | 2024 extra standard deduction |
| Single, 65+ or blind | $1,950 |
| Single, 65+ and blind | $3,900 |
| Married filing jointly, one spouse is 65+ or blind | $1,550 |
| Married filing jointly, both spouses are 65+ or blind | $3,100 |
| Married filing jointly, both spouses are 65+ and blind | $6,200 |
In 2025 (for tax returns filed in 2026), the extra standard deduction for a taxpayer who is 65 or older, or blind, and…
- …married, is $1,600 per qualifying spouse.
- …not married (and doesn’t qualify as a surviving spouse), is $2,000.
Those amounts are doubled if you’re 65 or older and visually impaired.
Here are some examples of the value of the extra standard deduction for 65 or older and/or blind taxpayers, by filing status, for 2025, for returns filed in 2026.
| Filing status | 2025 extra standard deduction |
| Single, 65+ or blind | $2,000 |
| Single, 65+ and blind | $4,000 |
| Married filing jointly, one spouse is 65+ or blind | $1,600 |
| Married filing jointly, both spouses are 65+ or blind | $3,200 |
| Married filing jointly, both spouses are 65+ and blind | $6,400 |
For the extra standard deduction, if your 65th birthday was Jan. 1, the IRS considers you 65 for the previous tax year, and you may claim the larger standard deduction.
As for visual acuity, you may qualify for the larger deduction if you are partially blind by attaching a letter from your physician attesting to your limited vision.
Standard deduction for dependent taxpayers
Even taxpayers who are claimed as a dependent by another taxpayer may have a reason to file a tax return of their own; for example, so they can get a refund of withheld money.
A taxpayer who is claimed as a dependent on someone else’s tax return for tax year 2024 (and who is younger than 65 and not blind) can claim a standard deduction of $1,300, or their earned income plus $450, whichever number is higher. (The deduction cannot exceed the basic standard deduction for the dependent taxpayer’s filing status.)
For 2025 (tax returns filed in 2026), the standard deduction for a taxpayer who is claimed as a dependent is the greater of $1,350 or their earned income plus $450.
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