What's a standard deduction

[miracle1212]

What's a standard deduction

[ThomasM · Accepted solution]

Every taxpayer gets to choose between a standard deduction  and itemized deductions.  Itemized deductions mean you get to add up all the various deductions you might qualify for, and then use that total (on Schedule A of the 1040) to lower your taxable income.  But the IRS also has a fixed "standard deduction" (currently $6300 for a single filer; $12,600 for married filing jointly) for people who either don't want to itemize, or don't have many deductions they can itemize.

The good thing is that every taxpayer gets to choose which one he/she wants to take on the tax return.  All you need to do is enter all your information, and TurboTax will calculate which deduction is larger (and better) for you to use.  If the standard deduction is worth more on your tax return than all your itemized deductions, then TurboTax will give you the standard deduction.  And if the opposite is true, then TurboTax will give you the Schedule A itemized deductions.

That's how it works.