For the 2026 tax year, the standard deduction is $16,100 for single filers and married taxpayers filing separately, $32,200 for married couples filing jointly, and $24,150 for head of household filers. These amounts reflect the inflation adjustments the IRS released for 2026, incorporating changes from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.1Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026, Including Amendments From the One, Big, Beautiful Bill You subtract the amount from your adjusted gross income before tax is calculated, and you don’t need to track receipts or file Schedule A to claim it.
Base Amounts by Filing Status
- Single or married filing separately: $16,100
- Married filing jointly (or qualifying surviving spouse): $32,200
- Head of household: $24,150
These are floor amounts. Age, blindness, and, for some seniors, a separate new deduction can push what you actually subtract from income considerably higher.
Extra Amount If You’re 65 or Blind
If you’re 65 or older, or legally blind, the IRS adds a fixed amount to your base standard deduction. You get one addition if you meet either condition and two if you meet both. On a joint return, each spouse who qualifies gets their own addition, so a couple where both spouses are over 65 stacks two additions onto the $32,200 base.
Unmarried filers get a larger per-condition amount than married filers. For 2025 the additional amount was $1,600 per condition for married taxpayers and $2,000 for unmarried taxpayers, and the figure is adjusted upward each year for inflation.2Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 551, Standard Deduction
The New $6,000 Senior Deduction
Separately from the addition above, taxpayers age 65 and older can claim a new $6,000 deduction created by the OBBBA. It runs from tax year 2025 through 2028. On a joint return where both spouses are 65 or older, the combined amount is $12,000. Unlike most deductions, this one is available whether you take the standard deduction or itemize. To claim it, married taxpayers must file jointly and list the Social Security number of each qualifying spouse on the return.3Internal Revenue Service. One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act – Tax Deductions for Working Americans and Seniors
The deduction phases out at higher incomes. It begins shrinking once modified adjusted gross income exceeds $75,000 for single filers or $150,000 for joint filers, and disappears entirely well above those thresholds.4Internal Revenue Service. Check Your Eligibility for the New Enhanced Deduction for Seniors
A 67-year-old single filer with $60,000 in income can therefore stack three amounts: the $16,100 base, the regular age-65 addition, and the full $6,000 senior deduction.
If Someone Else Claims You as a Dependent
Dependents don’t get the full standard deduction. Yours is limited to the greater of a fixed floor of $1,350, or your earned income plus $450, and it can never exceed the regular standard deduction for your filing status.5Internal Revenue Service. Publication 501 (2025), Dependents, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information
Some examples. A 17-year-old with $4,000 in summer wages gets $4,450 (earned income plus $450, since that beats the floor). A dependent who earned $200 babysitting gets $1,350, because the floor is higher than $650. A dependent with no wages but $800 in interest income also gets the $1,350 floor, which is enough to wipe out the interest.
“Earned income” here means wages, salaries, tips, and other pay for work you actually performed. Investment income doesn’t count toward the earned-income calculation, though it can still trigger a filing requirement on its own.
Who Can’t Take the Standard Deduction
A few filers are locked out. Nonresident aliens generally cannot use it. If you’re married filing separately and your spouse itemizes on their return, you must itemize too, even if your itemized total comes in below what the standard deduction would have given you. Taxpayers filing for a short tax year because of a change in accounting period also can’t claim it. In those situations, Schedule A is the only route.
The Personal Exemption Is Still Zero
Before 2018, you could claim a personal exemption for yourself, your spouse, and each qualifying dependent. In 2017, the last year it was available, the exemption was $4,050 per person, so a couple with three children could exempt $20,250 of income before even applying the standard deduction.6Internal Revenue Service. Publication 501 (2017), Dependents, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act zeroed out the personal exemption starting in 2018, originally through the end of 2025. Many taxpayers expected it to return in 2026. It won’t. The OBBBA made the zero exemption permanent, so it will not come back in any future tax year.1Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026, Including Amendments From the One, Big, Beautiful Bill
The rules that defined a “qualifying child” and “qualifying relative” for the exemption are still in force, because they now govern eligibility for the Child Tax Credit and the Credit for Other Dependents. The dollar amount is gone; the dependent definitions are not.
Standard Deduction or Itemizing
Each year you pick whichever gives you the larger write-off: the standard deduction or the total of your itemized expenses on Schedule A.7Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Schedule A (Form 1040) (2025) The main itemized categories are state and local taxes, mortgage interest, charitable contributions, and medical expenses above 7.5% of AGI.
For a single filer to come out ahead by itemizing in 2026, deductible expenses have to top $16,100. For a married couple filing jointly, the bar is $32,200. The taxpayers who typically clear that hurdle are homeowners with sizable mortgages in high-tax states who also make meaningful charitable gifts. The choice isn’t permanent. A year with heavy medical bills or a large donation can flip the answer even if you normally take the standard deduction, so running the numbers both ways is worth a few minutes when your situation shifts.