Standard or itemize

[Moy]

If Married Filing Separately and husband is itemizing, can the wife take the 2021Standard Deduction of $12,500? Does TurboTax Deluxe automatically make that decision, in the wife's best interest? Or she too must itemize?

[ColeenD3 · Accepted solution]

No, if one spouse itemizes, the other spouse may not take the standard deduction. This forces the second spouse to itemize to be able to take any deductions at all.