Standard Deduction vs. Itemized Deductions

The Standard Deduction is a set amount based on your filing status. You can take this deduction or you can itemize your deductions, which means you enter your unique expenses instead.

The expenses you can enter as Itemized Deductions include:

• Mortgage interest (Form 1098)
• Property taxes
• Donations to charities
• Medical expenses
• State and local taxes
• General sales tax
• Investment interest
• Casualty losses
• Gambling losses
• Other miscellaneous expenses

We estimate about 10-15% of filers will benefit from itemizing their deductions. If you enter your itemized deductions, we'll calculate which deduction is best for you. If you don't enter any itemized deductions, we'll make sure you get the Standard Deduction.

Please note, it can be beneficial to itemize your deductions even if your Standard Deduction is larger, if you file a state return that allows itemized deductions. You may want to enter your federal and state returns using one type of federal deduction (standard or itemized) and then try switching to the other type of deduction to see if there's an overall benefit to using a different deduction.