What are Standard Deductions?

Standard Deductions and more popular than Itemized Deductions as the individual filing the tax return does not need to spend time and energy wading through the list of allowable expenses.

Who can use Standard Deductions?

Not everyone can elect to use the Standard Deductions, your circumstances and how your partner have filed their tax return can affect your right to use Standard Deductions. In order to use Standard deductions:

In order to be eleigable for Standard Deductions you must either be:
- A US citizen
- A'Resident Alien' for tax purposes
If you are filing as 'married, filing separately', your spouse must also use the Standard Deduction. If your spouse uses the Itemized Deductions method then so must you! alternatively one of you may claim the full standard deduction and the other enter '0' (zero on your tax return.
You cannot use the Standard Deduction if you are using Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT). If you choose the Standard Deduction for regular income tax, you cannot itemize deductions for the AMT. If you use AMT (because your AMT is higher than regular tax), you would be better using Itemized Deductions, even if it is less than the Standard Deduction.

You can calculate how Standard Deductions affect your tax payments here, simply select the advanced tax calculator and enter your Standard Deductions details

Want to share more about Standard Deductions and Tax?

Contact us if you would like to expand on the Standard Deductions information shown or share your personal experiences of how Standard Deductions have affected your tax return. Have Standard Deductions helped you pay less tax? If you are a website owner, Independent Financial Advisor etc, we will provide a link back to your website in recognition of your support.