Standard Deduction Calculator
Find your standard deduction for 2025 or 2026, including the extra amount for age 65 or older or blindness and the limit when someone can claim you as a dependent. Every step shows with its citation.
Tax year 2025 follows Pub. 501 (2025) and Rev. Proc. 2025-32; tax year 2026 is a planning estimate. Last verified 2026-09-20.
How the standard deduction works
The standard deduction has two parts under IRC §63(c)(1): the basic amount for your filing status and an additional amount for each box you check for age 65 or older or blindness. Pub. 501 (2025) prints the result in Table 7, and this calculator reproduces every row of it.
- Start with the basic amount for your filing status.
- If someone else can claim you as a dependent, limit that amount to your earned income plus a small add-on, with a floor (Pub. 501 Table 8).
- Add the age and blindness amounts for you, and for your spouse on a joint return.
- If your spouse itemizes and you file separately, or you are a nonresident alien, the answer is zero.
Common Questions
What is the standard deduction?
A fixed amount you subtract from income instead of itemizing, set by IRC §63(c). For 2025 the basic amount is $15,750 for single and married-filing-separately filers, $31,500 for married filing jointly and qualifying surviving spouses, and $23,625 for head of household.
How does being 65 or older, or blind, change it?
Each box you check adds an amount under IRC §63(f): $2,000 for a single or head-of-household filer and $1,600 for a married filer or surviving spouse (2025). A married couple filing jointly can check up to four boxes. You count as 65 on the day before your 65th birthday.
What if someone can claim me as a dependent?
Your standard deduction is limited to the greater of $1,350 or your earned income plus $450, and never more than the basic amount for your filing status (IRC §63(c)(5)). The age and blindness add-ons still apply on top of that limit.
When is the standard deduction zero?
IRC §63(c)(6) sets it to zero for a married person filing separately whose spouse itemizes, for a nonresident alien, and for a return covering less than 12 months because of a change in accounting period (plus estates, trusts, and partnerships). If your spouse itemizes and you file separately, you must itemize too.
Is the enhanced deduction for seniors part of the standard deduction?
No. It is a separate deduction for taxpayers 65 or older, phased out at higher incomes, and you can take it whether or not you itemize. This calculator does not include it. Pub. 501 explains the amount and the income limit.
Should I take the standard deduction or itemize?
Take whichever is larger. This calculator gives you the standard deduction to compare against your itemized deductions. It does not total the itemized ones.
Do the amounts change every year?
Yes. They are indexed for inflation. For 2025 they follow Public Law 119-21 (which raised them) and Rev. Proc. 2025-32. Tax year 2026 uses the amounts in that same Rev. Proc. and is a planning estimate until the IRS publishes the 2026 forms.
Is this calculator free?
Yes. It is free, with no signup, and it shows every step with its citation.