Under
United States tax law
The United States of America has separate federal, state, and local governments with taxes imposed at each of these levels. Taxes are levied on income, payroll, property, sales, capital gains, dividends, imports, estates and gifts, as well as ...
, the standard deduction is a dollar amount that non-
itemizers may subtract from their income before
income tax
An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...
(but not other kinds of tax, such as payroll tax) is applied. Taxpayers may choose either
itemized deduction
Under United States tax law, itemized deductions are eligible expenses that individual taxpayers can claim on federal income tax returns and which decrease their taxable income, and is claimable in place of a standard deduction, if available.
Mos ...
s or the standard deduction, but usually choose whichever results in the lesser amount of tax payable. The standard deduction is available to US citizens and
aliens who are
resident for tax purposes
The criteria for residence for tax purposes vary considerably from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and "residence" can be different for other, non-tax purposes. For individuals, physical presence in a jurisdiction is the main test. Some jurisdictio ...
and who are individuals, married persons, and
heads of household. The standard deduction is based on
filing status and typically increases each year. It is not available to nonresident aliens residing in the United States (with few exceptions, for example, students from India on F1 visa status can use the standard deduction). Additional amounts are available for persons who are blind and/or are at least 65 years of age.
The standard deduction is distinct from the
personal exemption, which was eliminated by The
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017
The Act to provide for reconciliation pursuant to titles II and V of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2018, , is a congressional revenue act of the United States originally introduced in Congress as the Tax Cuts and Jobs A ...
for tax years 2018–2025.
Basic standard deduction
The applicable basic standard deduction amounts for tax years 2006–2021 are as follows:
Other standard deduction in certain cases
The standard deduction may be higher than the basic standard deduction if any of the following conditions are met:
* The taxpayer is 65 years of age or older.
* The taxpayer's spouse is 65 years of age or older.
* The taxpayer is blind (generally defined as not having corrected vision of at least 20/200 or as having extreme "limitation in the fields of vision").
* The taxpayer's spouse is blind (see definition above).
For each applicable condition, a taxpayer adds $1,100 to his/her standard deductions (for 2010). However, the additional deduction is $1,400 for unmarried individuals.
For
dependents, the standard deduction is equal to earned income (that is, compensation for services, such as wages, salaries, or tips) plus a certain amount ($300 in 2010). A dependent's standard deduction cannot be more than the basic standard deduction for non-dependents, or less than a certain minimum ($950 in 2010).
[I.R.S. publication 17 page 142]
Consider the following examples:
References
*1040 Instruction Booklet for year 2005, Page 36.
*Revenue procedure 13-35, https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-13-35.pdf, 2014 adjustments for inflation.
External links
Internal Revenue Service Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Standard Deduction
United States federal income tax
Tax terms