The 2026 standard deduction
For taxable years beginning in 2026, Revenue Procedure 2025-32 sets the basic standard deduction at $16,100 for single filers and married people filing separately, $24,150 for heads of household, and $32,200 for married couples filing jointly and surviving spouses. Those figures already include the increases made by the 2025 Act and the 2026 inflation adjustment announced in IR-2025-103.
People who are 65 or older, or blind, at the end of the year may add an extra standard deduction. For 2026 that extra amount is $2,050 if you are unmarried and not a surviving spouse, and $1,650 in other cases, including each qualifying spouse on a joint return. A married couple filing jointly, both 65, starts at $32,200 + $1,650 + $1,650 = $35,500 before any itemizing decision. The $6,000 enhanced senior deduction on Schedule 1-A is separate; it does not replace this additional standard deduction. You can estimate that one on NewDeduct and enter the result as an other below-the-line deduction on the refund calculator.
When itemizing still wins
You itemize only if the total of allowed itemized deductions is higher than the standard deduction that applies to you. Common building blocks include state and local taxes (subject to the federal cap), home mortgage interest, charitable contributions and medical expenses above the AGI floor. Adding a number that you have not actually supported with records will overstate the benefit. If the two sides are close, run both through the refund calculator and read the itemize-versus-standard guide before you decide.
How to enter age and itemized amounts
Check the age or blindness boxes only if the official tests for the additional standard deduction will apply at the end of 2026. Do not check them to approximate the Schedule 1-A senior deduction; that amount is separate and should be computed on NewDeduct, then entered as a below-the-line deduction on the refund calculator. Enter an itemized total you can support, not a ceiling such as “all of my state tax” if a cap applies. The comparison here will simply tell you which of the two numbers is larger.
If itemizing wins by a small margin, look at the tax difference, not only the deduction difference, by entering both options in the refund calculator. A $400 gap at a 12% marginal rate is $48 of tax, which may not justify thin documentation. If you are near the 37% bracket, have software apply any official limitation on itemized deductions rather than relying on this simple comparison.