Schedule A Deduction Calculator

The standard deduction for 2025 is $15,750 for single filers and $31,500 for married couples filing jointly. If your total qualifying itemized deductions — including medical expenses over 7.5% of AGI, state and local taxes up to $40,000, mortgage interest on up to $750,000 of acquisition debt ($1,000,000 if incurred before December 16, 2017), and charitable contributions — exceed your standard deduction amount, itemizing on Schedule A will lower your taxable income and save you money.

Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA §70120), the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap for 2025 is $40,000 for single and joint filers ($20,000 for married filing separately). The cap is subject to a 30% phaseout beginning at $500,000 of MAGI ($250,000 MFS), but cannot fall below $10,000 ($5,000 MFS). The cap is indexed 1% a year starting in 2026 ($40,400) and is scheduled to revert to $10,000 after 2029 unless Congress extends it.

Qualifying medical expenses on Schedule A include payments for doctors, surgeons, dentists, specialists, hospital care, prescription medications, diagnostic tests, long-term care services, health insurance premiums (if paid out-of-pocket), and certain home modifications for medical needs. Transportation costs for medical care (the IRS standard medical mileage rate for 2025 is 21¢ per mile) are also deductible. Only expenses exceeding 7.5% of your adjusted gross income can be claimed.

You may deduct either state and local income taxes OR state and local general sales taxes — not both — plus real estate property taxes and personal property taxes such as value-based vehicle registration. The combined total of those is what the $40,000 cap applies to for 2025. Taxes on property held for business or rental use are deducted on Schedule C or Schedule E instead and are not subject to the SALT cap at all.

If you file married filing separately and your spouse itemizes, you must itemize too — you cannot claim the standard deduction, even if it would be larger. This is the single most common reason a filer ends up itemizing a small amount. Both spouses also use the halved MFS figures: a $20,000 SALT cap for 2025 and a $15,750 standard deduction.

No. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act suspended miscellaneous itemized deductions subject to the 2% AGI floor — unreimbursed employee business expenses, tax preparation fees, investment advisory fees, and safe deposit box rental — and OBBBA made that suspension permanent. Casualty and theft losses remain deductible only when attributable to a federally declared disaster. Gambling losses (up to gambling winnings) and investment interest expense are still allowed as other itemized deductions.