2025 standard deduction: how much it is and how it applies
$15,750, $31,500 or $23,625 by filing status, plus the extra amounts for age 65 or older and blindness.
By the Vordana Tax team · · Updated
For 2025 returns, the standard deduction is $15,750 if you are single or married filing separately, $31,500 if you are married filing jointly or a qualifying surviving spouse, and $23,625 for head of household. You add $2,000 (single or head of household) or $1,600 (married) for each person who is 65 or older or blind, and starting in 2025 seniors can also take a separate deduction of up to $6,000 each. The standard deduction is subtracted from your income before your tax is figured, and most people use it because it is larger than their deductible expenses added up.
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How much is the 2025 standard deduction?
- Single or married filing separately: $15,750.
- Married filing jointly, or qualifying surviving spouse: $31,500.
- Head of household: $23,625.
How much more do you get at 65 or older, or blind?
If you are 65 or older at the end of 2025, or blind, your standard deduction goes up. The increase is added once for each condition and for each person: someone who is 65 and also blind gets it twice.
According to the IRS, you are considered 65 on the day before your 65th birthday; for 2025, you are considered 65 if you were born before January 2, 1961. Blindness counts if you are blind on the last day of the year.
- Single or head of household: an extra $2,000 for each condition.
- Married (filing jointly or separately) or qualifying surviving spouse: an extra $1,600 for each condition, for each spouse.
What is the new senior deduction?
According to the IRS, for 2025 through 2028 there is a separate deduction of up to $6,000 for each person who is 65 or older at the end of the year. It is added on top of the standard deduction and the extra amounts for age, and you can also take it if you itemize. On a joint return, if both spouses are 65 or older, each one counts: up to $12,000 in total. You claim it on Schedule 1-A of Form 1040.
It is reduced by 6% of the part of your modified adjusted gross income above $75,000, or $150,000 if you file jointly. Married couples filing separately cannot take it. According to the IRS, the person must also have a valid Social Security number.
What if someone else can claim you as a dependent?
If someone else can claim you as their dependent, your standard deduction is the larger of $1,350 or your earned income plus $450, but no more than the normal standard deduction for your filing status. The extra amounts for age or blindness are added on top.
Examples: what would your deduction be?
These examples are illustrative and use the 2025 amounts.
- Single woman, 67, not blind: $15,750 + $2,000 = $17,750 standard deduction. If her modified adjusted gross income is no more than $75,000, she can also subtract the $6,000 senior deduction.
- Married couple filing jointly, both 66 and one of them blind: $31,500 + 3 × $1,600 = $36,300 standard deduction. If their modified adjusted gross income is no more than $150,000, they also get $12,000 of senior deduction.
- Single man, 70, with modified adjusted gross income of $85,000: he is $10,000 over the threshold, and 6% of that is $600. His senior deduction drops from $6,000 to $5,400.
- College student claimed as a dependent by their parents who earned $3,000 at a part-time job: the standard deduction is the larger of $1,350 or $3,000 + $450, which is $3,450.
Should you take the standard deduction or itemize?
You cannot use both: you either take the standard deduction or itemize your deductions on Schedule A. Itemizing is only worth it if your deductible expenses add up to more than your standard deduction, which is why most people take the standard deduction.
The expenses most often itemized are mortgage interest on your home, state and local taxes (up to $40,000, or $20,000 if married filing separately, with a lower cap at high incomes), gifts to charity, and medical expenses to the extent they exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income.
- If you are married filing separately and your spouse itemizes, you cannot take the standard deduction: you have to itemize too.
- According to the IRS, someone who was a nonresident alien during the year generally cannot take the standard deduction, with certain exceptions, for example if you are married to a U.S. citizen or resident and you both choose to be treated as residents for the whole year.
How Vordana Tax handles it
Vordana Tax applies the standard deduction that fits your filing status, your age and your answers, and adds the extra amounts and the senior deduction when you qualify. If you enter expenses that can be itemized, such as mortgage interest or donations, the program compares the two options and uses the one that gives you the larger deduction.
Questions
Is the standard deduction or itemizing better for me?
Whichever is larger. Itemizing is only worth it if your deductible expenses add up to more than your standard deduction. Vordana Tax makes that comparison for you.
I turn 65 in 2025. What do I get?
If you are single, $2,000 is added to your $15,750 standard deduction. You may also qualify for the new senior deduction of up to $6,000, depending on your income.
I was born on January 1, 1961. Do I count as 65 for 2025?
Yes. According to the IRS, you are considered 65 on the day before your 65th birthday, so anyone born before January 2, 1961 is 65 for the 2025 return.
Can I take the standard deduction and the senior deduction at the same time?
Yes. The senior deduction is separate: it is added on top of the standard deduction and the extra amounts for age, and you can also take it if you itemize.
If I file with an ITIN, do I get the standard deduction?
Yes, if you file Form 1040 as a resident for tax purposes. The standard deduction does not depend on having a Social Security number; it applies the same as for anyone else with the same filing status.
Sources
This guide is general information. Your situation may differ; the IRS's instructions are the final word.
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