Standard Deduction Amounts
Kyle Ashcraft, CPA · 2019 CPA Exam Scores · 95 FAR · 98 BEC · 91 REG · 90 AUD
The standard deduction is a flat amount that reduces your taxable income without requiring you to itemize anything — and the exact dollar amount changes every year with inflation. Here are the current figures.
What are the 2025 standard deduction amounts?
For tax year 2025 (the returns most people just filed by April 2026), the standard deduction amounts are:
| Filing Status | 2025 Amount |
|---|---|
| Single | $15,750 |
| Married Filing Separately | $15,750 |
| Married Filing Jointly | $31,500 |
| Head of Household | $23,625 |
These figures reflect the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), signed July 2025, which retroactively raised the 2025 amounts above what the IRS had originally published for the year. If you see a source citing $15,000 / $30,000 / $22,500 for 2025, that's the pre-OBBBA figure — it's been superseded.
What are the 2026 standard deduction amounts?
The IRS has already published 2026 figures (for returns filed in 2027):
| Filing Status | 2026 Amount |
|---|---|
| Single | $16,100 |
| Married Filing Separately | $16,100 |
| Married Filing Jointly | $32,200 |
| Head of Household | $24,150 |
What's the extra deduction for being 65 or older, or blind?
Taxpayers who are 65 or older, or blind, get an additional standard deduction on top of the base amount — and it doubles if both conditions apply.
| Filing Status | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Single or Head of Household (per condition) | $2,000 | $2,050 |
| Married, per spouse (per condition) | $1,600 | $1,650 |
What is the new OBBBA senior deduction?
OBBBA also created a brand-new deduction just for seniors, separate from the age-65 addition above. It's worth $6,000 per qualifying person age 65 or older, on top of both the regular standard deduction and the age-65 addition — a married couple where both spouses are 65+ can claim up to $12,000 combined. It's available whether you itemize or take the standard deduction.
It phases out for higher earners: starting at $75,000 of modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) for single/head-of-household filers, or $150,000 MAGI for married filing jointly, reduced by 6% of the excess above that threshold. It's fully phased out at $175,000 MAGI (single/HOH) or $250,000 MAGI (MFJ).
This deduction only applies to tax years 2025 through 2028 — it's temporary and set to expire after 2028 unless Congress extends it.
When are individual tax returns due?
The standard filing deadline is April 15, with an automatic extension available to October 15 if you file Form 4868 by the original deadline. That extension only gives you more time to file the paperwork — any tax you owe is still due April 15, regardless of the extension.
The standard deduction keeps rising with inflation, and 2025 got an extra boost from new legislation. If you're 65 or older, check both the age-65 addition and the new OBBBA senior deduction — together they can meaningfully increase what you can deduct without itemizing.
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Kyle Ashcraft, CPA scored 90 or above on every section of the CPA exam in 2019, including a 91 on REG. He is the founder and sole instructor of Maxwell CPA Review, a complete CPA review course covering all six sections, where he creates every lecture, textbook and study outline himself.