2025 standard deduction amounts
The 2025 amounts were initially $15,000 single/MFS, $30,000 MFJ, and $22,500 Head of Household, then raised by the July 2025 tax law to $15,750, $31,500, and $23,625 respectively. Additional amounts apply for age 65+ and blind filers, plus a temporary senior deduction of up to $6,000 per qualifying person for 2025 through 2028, phasing out at higher incomes.
Common itemized deductions
State and local taxes, long capped at $10,000 combined, are capped at $40,000 for 2025 under the new law (the higher cap phases back down for incomes above roughly $500,000 and is scheduled to revert after 2029). Home mortgage interest. Charitable contributions. Medical expenses over 7.5% of AGI. Casualty losses in federally declared disaster areas.
Mortgage interest details
Interest is deductible on acquisition debt used to buy, build, or substantially improve the home, up to the post-2017 loan cap of $750,000 of principal (older loans keep the prior $1 million cap). Home equity loan interest counts only when the proceeds went into the home itself. Points paid on a purchase are generally deductible in the year paid; refinance points spread over the loan's life.
When itemizing wins
Generally when state and local taxes, mortgage interest, and charitable giving combined exceed the standard deduction. Under the old $10,000 SALT cap this was most common for homeowners with large mortgages. With the cap at $40,000 for 2025, homeowners with substantial property tax bills and mid-sized mortgages are back in itemizing territory, which is exactly the profile of a lot of South Florida households.
Deductions you get either way
Above-the-line deductions don't require itemizing: self-employed health insurance, half of self-employment tax, HSA contributions, deductible IRA contributions, and student loan interest all reduce AGI on top of whichever deduction route you take. People sometimes skip these because they 'take the standard deduction'; the two have nothing to do with each other.
Bunching strategy
Stack charitable giving into one year and take standard deduction the next. A donor-advised fund lets you deduct in year one and distribute to charities over time. The same logic applies to elective medical procedures and, to a degree, property tax timing. Bunching works because the standard deduction is a floor you get anyway: concentrating deductible spending into alternating years converts wasted deductions into real ones.
How the choice actually gets made
We compute both totals and file whichever is larger; there is no commitment carrying from one year to the next. For Florida filers with no state income tax, the SALT line is property tax plus sales tax (using the IRS sales tax tables plus tax on big purchases like a vehicle or boat). The one trap: married filing separately couples must both itemize or both take the standard deduction.
Common questions
- Can I itemize state taxes and take standard deduction on federal?
- No. The federal decision determines both. Some states allow the opposite choice independently.
- I'm in Florida with no state income tax. Does SALT do anything for me?
- Yes. The SALT deduction covers property taxes plus either state income tax or state sales tax. Florida filers use the sales tax option, and the property tax bill on a homestead is often the larger piece.
- Are charitable gifts deductible if I take the standard deduction?
- For 2025, generally no. Starting in 2026, the new law adds a limited charitable deduction for non-itemizers ($1,000 single, $2,000 MFJ), so smaller givers get some benefit back.
- Do medical expenses ever actually produce a deduction?
- Only the portion above 7.5% of AGI, and only if you itemize. In practice this shows up in years with a major event: surgery, long-term care, or a lower-income year that shrinks the AGI floor.
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