Standard deduction rates rise again for 2026. Here’s what you can deduct.

Every year, as you file your federal income tax return, you have an important decision to make: itemize, or take the standard deduction. You can only pick one, but at least you can select the option that cuts your tax bill the most.

Standard deduction amounts are adjusted each year to account for inflation, which helps taxpayers by increasing their deduction nearly every year. Those increases have become milder over the past couple of years as inflation has been pared down. Still, for smart taxpayers who want to start thinking about their 2026 tax situation now, the IRS has already released the standard deduction amounts for the 2026 tax year.

Want to get a jump on your 2026 tax planning? Read on, as we lay out all of the various standard deduction amounts for next year. This is typically the most important tax deduction for about 90% of all Americans—so it’s something you definitely want to be on top of well before it’s time to file your return.

Standard Deduction Amounts for the 2026 Tax Year

Your standard deduction for the year primarily depends on your filing status, but it can also be impacted by your age, whether or not you’re a dependent, and even your vision.

For the 2026 tax year, the basic standard deduction based on your filing status will be as follows:

Standard Deduction Limit for Dependents

The basic standard deduction is capped for people who can be claimed as a dependent on someone else’s tax return. For 2026, a dependent’s basic standard deduction will be limited to the greater of:

• $1,350
• Your earned income plus $450 (but not more than the applicable basic standard deduction amount)

Earned income includes salaries, wages, tips, professional fees, and other compensation for work. It also includes any part of a taxable scholarship or fellowship grant.

Related: Federal Tax Brackets and Rates for 2025+ 2026

Additional Standard Deduction for Age and/or Blindness

Anyone who’s at least 65 years old or legally blind at the end of next year will be able to claim the following additional standard deduction amount for the 2026 tax year:

• $1,650 for married couples filing jointly, married taxpayers filing separately, and surviving spouses
• $2,050 for single and head-of-household filers

For married couples who file a joint tax return, both spouses will get an additional standard deduction for being at least 65 years old or blind. If you or your spouse is both 65 or older and blind, then the additional deduction for that person will be doubled.

If you’re married but file a separate return, your spouse will be eligible for the additional standard deduction on your return only if he or she has no income, isn’t filing a return, and can’t be claimed as a dependent on someone else’s tax return for the tax year. The additional deduction will also be doubled for separate filers for either qualifying spouse who is both 65 or older and blind.

For more on the standard deduction, including the 2025 standard deduction amounts, see What Is the Standard Deduction?

Senior Deduction

The passage of the 2025 budget reconciliation bill also ushered in a new (albeit temporary) Senior Deduction. 

To qualify for the Senior Deduction, you must turn 65 within the tax year you want to claim it, you must have a Social Security number (an individual taxpayer identification number, or ITIN, is not enough), and if you’re married, you must file a joint return. You can take the Senior Deduction regardless of whether you itemize or take the standard deduction, and you can take it in addition to the additional standard deduction.

All qualified seniors start with a $6,000 deduction. If you’re married and filing a joint return, both you and your spouse start with a $6,000 deduction, for a total of $12,000. However, if your “modified adjusted gross income” (MAGI) is more than $75,000 ($150,000 if you’re filing a joint return), then your $6,000 deduction is reduced by 6¢ for every dollar of MAGI over the applicable threshold. The $6,000 deduction is reduced all the way to $0 when your MAGI reaches $175,000 ($250,000 for joint filers).

For purposes of this deduction, MAGI is equal to the adjusted gross income reported on your tax return, plus any:

• foreign earned income or housing excluded from taxation
• income excluded from taxation for residents of Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, or Puerto Rico

Example: Suzanne is 80 years old and single. Her MAGI for the year is $90,000, which is $15,000 over the phase-out threshold for single taxpayers ($90,000 – $75,000 = $15,000). As a result, her deduction is reduced by $900 ($15,000 x .06 = $900). So, her Senior Deduction for the year is $5,100 ($6,000 – $900 = $5,100).

Just note that the Senior Deduction is temporary: Per the reconciliation bill, it is only available through the 2028 tax year. It also will not change in value from one year to the next.

Related: Capital Gains Tax Rates [2025+2026]

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Inflation Adjustments for the 2026 Standard Deduction Amounts

The 2026 basic standard deduction amounts represent an increase of 2.22%. That continues a string of smaller increases, including 2.7% for 2025, 5.4% for 2024 (5.3% for head-of-household filers), and 6.95% for 2023 (7.22% for head-of-household filers).

Young and the Invested Tip: The 2.2% increase translates to a $350 jump in the basic standard deduction from 2025 to 2026 for single taxpayers, an $700 rise for joint filers, and a $525 boost for head-of-household filers.

When the standard deduction was nearly doubled by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (starting with the 2018 tax year), annual increases were more modest. High inflation in the post-COVID era resulted in much larger-than-usual hikes in the standard deduction, with the size of those increases shrinking as inflation has slowed.

Also worth noting is that the 2025 budget reconciliation bill provided an additional increase in the standard deduction.

You can see the standard deduction’s changes over time in the table below:

Note that, if any increase triggered by the inflation adjustment rules is not a multiple of $50, the increase is rounded to the next lowest multiple of $50.

Related:

• Tax-Loss Harvesting: How Investors Can Cut Their Tax Bill
• What Is the Government Pension Offset [And How Does It Work]?

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