Standard deduction vs. itemized, at a stated deduction amount
Compares a stated, cited standard deduction amount against a given itemized deduction total and reports which is larger.
Published for review. The Founder is checking every card himself; anything he strikes comes down the same hour.
Disclaimer: General comparison only, using a stated, cited standard deduction. Not tax advice. Itemized deduction eligibility rules (SALT cap, mortgage interest limits, etc.) are not evaluated here. Consult a licensed tax professional or the IRS for your actual return.
Try it
Inputs
filing_status (string, required) one of: single, married_filing_jointly, head_of_household : Filing status, used only to word the question and answer
itemized_total (number, currency units, required) min 0 : Sum of all itemized deductions
standard_deduction (number, currency units, required) min 0 : The standard deduction amount for this filing status and tax year; the visitor may enter a newer year's published figure.
standard_deduction_source (string, required) : Citation for the standard_deduction figure (for example the IRS revenue procedure); change it together with standard_deduction when using a newer year.
standard_deduction_date (string, ISO date, required) : The date the cited standard_deduction figure was retrieved or published.
Outputs
standard_deduction (currency units): The stated standard deduction for this filing status
larger_amount (currency units): The larger of the standard deduction and the itemized total
which_is_larger: Either 'standard' or 'itemized'
Steps
The visitor supplies standard_deduction for their filing status, plus standard_deduction_source and standard_deduction_date, the citation for that figure; this method never looks up a table itself.
Compare standard_deduction to itemized_total.
which_is_larger = 'itemized' if itemized_total > standard_deduction, otherwise 'standard'.
larger_amount = the greater of the two values, rounded to 2 decimals (money to cents).
Constants
standard_deduction_single_2026 = 16100 currency units (source)
standard_deduction_mfj_2026 = 32200 currency units (source)
standard_deduction_hoh_2026 = 24150 currency units (source)
Sources
Rev. Proc. 2025-32, Section 4.14 (2026 Standard Deduction) (Internal Revenue Service, 2026-09-30T19:31:29Z) - Official 2026 tax year standard deduction amounts: $32,200 MFJ, $24,150 HoH, $16,100 single/MFS; documented source of the standard_deduction_source/standard_deduction_date default values prefilled below by filing status.
Worked example and test vectors
Name
Inputs
Answer
worked example
{"filing_status":"single","itemized_total":20000,"standard_deduction":16100,"standard_deduction_source":"IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32, Section 4.14","standard_deduction_date":"2026-09-30"}
Itemizing is larger at $20,000.00
test vector: standard deduction wins
{"filing_status":"married_filing_jointly","itemized_total":18000,"standard_deduction":32200,"standard_deduction_source":"IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32, Section 4.14","standard_deduction_date":"2026-09-30"}