What are Itemized Tax Deductions?
If you have large expenses like mortgage interest and medical costs or made charitable deductions this year, you may be able to itemize instead of claiming the standard deduction. Itemized deductions allow you to account for each expense, potentially resulting in larger tax savings. However, there are some considerations to bear in mind. Discover if itemizing deductions is the right tax strategy for you.
The One Big Beautiful Bill that passed includes permanently extending tax cuts from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, including increasing the cap on the amount of state and local or sales tax and property tax (SALT) that you can deduct, makes cuts to energy credits passed under the Inflation Reduction Act, makes changes to taxes on tips and overtime for certain workers, reforms Medicaid, increases the Debt ceiling, and reforms Pell Grants and student loans. Updates to this article are in process. Check our One Big Beautiful Bill article for more information.

Key Takeaways
- If you pay mortgage interest, state and local income or sales taxes, property taxes, or have medical and dental expenses that exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income, your itemized deductions may exceed your Standard Deduction.
- To claim itemized deductions, you must file your income taxes using Form 1040 and list your itemized deductions on Schedule A.
- Add up your itemized deductions to make sure your itemized deductions total is greater than the Standard Deduction amount for your filing status. If it’s not, then you'll likely pay more in taxes if you itemize.
- If you’re subject to the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), some or all of the itemized deductions you claim may be reduced or eliminated.
How can itemized deductions lower your tax bill?
When searching for ways to reduce your taxable income, itemizing your deductions can really maximize your tax savings. The benefit of itemizing is that it allows you to claim a larger deduction that the Standard Deduction. However, it requires you to complete and file a Schedule A with your tax return and to maintain records of all your expenses.
What are some common types of itemized deductions?
Itemized deductions include a range of expenses that are only deductible when you choose to itemize. Common expenses include:
- mortgage interest you pay on up to two homes
- your state and local income or sales taxes
- property taxes
- medical and dental expenses that exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income
- charitable donations
- gambling losses
- disaster losses
What are the steps for itemizing?
In order to claim itemized deductions, you must file your income taxes using Form 1040 and list your itemized deductions on Schedule A:
- Enter your expenses on the appropriate lines of Schedule A.
- Add them up.
- If you're in the 37% tax bracket, reduce your total itemized deductions by the appropriate amount (see below).
- Copy the total amount to the second page of your Form 1040.
- This amount is then subtracted from your income to arrive at the final taxable income number.
TurboTax Tip:
The Alternative Minimum Tax now disallows deductions for interest on home equity loans, state and local income or sales taxes.
Are itemized deductions limited or reduced?
Starting with the 2026 tax year, the overall amount of itemized deductions is generally reduced for people in the highest (37%) tax bracket. The reduction is roughly equal to 5.4% of whichever of the following amounts is smaller:
- your total itemized deductions
- your taxable income above the threshold for the 37% bracket, plus your total itemized deductions (see the current tax brackets for the threshold that applies to your filing status)
How do you deciding whether to itemize?
When deciding whether to itemize, keep in mind that you will be giving up the Standard Deduction amount. So, after adding up your itemized deductions, make sure your itemized deductions total is greater than the Standard Deduction amount for your filing status. If it’s not, then you'll most likely pay more in tax if you itemize.
How do itemized deductions impact the Alternative Minimum Tax?
If you are subject to the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), some of the itemized deductions you claim may be reduced or eliminated for purposes of calculating your AMT. For example, your medical and dental expense deduction may be lower for AMT purposes. The AMT also disallows deductions for state and local income or sales taxes.
If you claim these itemized deductions, all or some of them could be added back to your income when calculating AMT, which can increase your AMT liability. This can create a situation where claiming more deductions can actually trigger a higher overall tax bill if those deductions push you into AMT territory.
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