2026 Standard Deduction: Age 65 and over

Who it applies to

The amount you use depends on filing status, and Rev. Proc. 2025-32 gives four rows for taxable years beginning in 2026: $32,200 for a joint return or a surviving spouse, $24,150 for a head of household, and $16,100 for an unmarried individual or a married individual filing a separate return. The § 63(f) addition for the aged or the blind sits on top of the basic amount at $1,650, and is increased to $2,050 where the individual is also unmarried and not a surviving spouse. An individual who may be claimed as a dependent by another taxpayer is handled by a separate rule in the same item and is capped well below the ordinary figures. The revenue procedure sets these amounts and does not restate who may claim the standard deduction at all. The enhanced deduction for seniors has its own conditions, stated by Publication 505 (2026): the claimant must be 65 or older by the end of 2026, must have a valid SSN, and, if married, must file a joint return.

What changed this year, and why

For taxable years beginning in 2026, Rev. Proc. 2025-32 sets the standard deduction under § 63 at $32,200 for married individuals filing joint returns and surviving spouses, $24,150 for heads of households, and $16,100 for unmarried individuals and for married individuals filing separate returns. The additional standard deduction under § 63(f) for the aged or the blind rises to $1,650, from the $1,600 Rev. Proc. 2024-40 stated for 2025, and the increased amount for an individual who is also unmarried and not a surviving spouse rises to $2,050 from $2,000. The basic amounts this site publishes for 2025 come from Rev. Proc. 2025-32 itself: it removed the general standard deduction table Rev. Proc. 2024-40 had published for that year, because the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act made the increased base amounts in § 63(c) permanent and raised them, and it restates the 2025 basic amounts in its own section 3. Separately from the standard deduction, Publication 505 (2026) states the enhanced deduction for seniors for 2026: up to $6,000 for a filer who is 65 or older by the end of 2026, or $12,000 on a joint return where both spouses are eligible. The amount is not indexed, so it is unchanged from 2025, and it phases down above a modified adjusted gross income threshold that the publication states. It is listed on this page as its own figure because it is what most readers asking about the standard deduction for seniors want to know.

Common questions

What is the 2026 standard deduction for a single filer?

Rev. Proc. 2025-32 sets the § 63 standard deduction at $16,100 for taxable years beginning in 2026 for unmarried individuals other than surviving spouses and heads of households. That is the basic amount before any addition for the aged or the blind. A single filer who may be claimed as a dependent by another taxpayer is handled by a separate rule in the same item and does not use the $16,100 figure.

What is the 2026 standard deduction for married filing jointly?

$32,200. Rev. Proc. 2025-32 states that amount under § 63 for taxable years beginning in 2026 for married individuals filing joint returns and for surviving spouses, who share one row of the table. It is the basic amount only; a couple in which one or both spouses qualify for the § 63(f) addition for the aged or the blind adds $1,650 for each qualifying spouse on top.

What is the 2026 standard deduction for head of household?

$24,150 for taxable years beginning in 2026, under § 63. Rev. Proc. 2025-32 gives heads of households their own row, set between the $32,200 for a joint return and the $16,100 for an unmarried individual. As with the other rows, the figure is the basic standard deduction before any additional amount for the aged or the blind is applied.

What is the 2026 standard deduction for married filing separately?

$16,100. Rev. Proc. 2025-32 gives married individuals filing separate returns their own row for taxable years beginning in 2026, carrying the same amount as the row for unmarried individuals. Filing separately therefore does not produce two joint-sized deductions: each spouse works from $16,100 rather than from the $32,200 stated for a joint return.

What is the 2026 standard deduction for seniors age 65 or older?

Two pieces, stated by two documents. Rev. Proc. 2025-32 sets the § 63(f) addition for age or blindness at $1,650 for taxable years beginning in 2026, or $2,050 for an individual who is also unmarried and not a surviving spouse, on top of the basic amount for the filing status. Publication 505 (2026) then states the separate enhanced deduction for seniors at $6,000, or $12,000 on a joint return where both spouses are eligible, for a filer who is 65 or older by the end of 2026. So a single filer who is 65 or older starts from $16,100, adds $2,050, and may claim up to $6,000 more, subject to the income limit the section below sets out.

Is the $6,000 senior deduction part of the standard deduction in 2026?

No. It is a separate deduction that Publication 505 (2026) describes alongside the standard deduction, and it is available whether you take the standard deduction or itemize. That is why this page lists it as its own figure rather than folding it into the $16,100, $32,200 and $24,150 basic amounts or the $1,650 and $2,050 age additions. It is not indexed for inflation, so the $6,000 for 2026 is the same amount as for 2025, and it phases down above the modified adjusted gross income threshold Publication 505 states.

Who qualifies for the enhanced deduction for seniors in 2026?

Publication 505 (2026) gives the conditions. You, or your spouse if filing jointly, must be 65 or older by the end of 2026, on the same birthday test the higher standard deduction for age uses. You and, on a joint return, the spouse claiming it must have a valid SSN. And if you are married you must file a joint return to claim it at all. Each eligible spouse adds $6,000, which is how a joint return reaches $12,000.

Did the standard deduction go up for 2026?

The § 63(f) additional amount for the aged or the blind moved to $1,650 for 2026 from the $1,600 Rev. Proc. 2024-40 set for 2025, and the increased amount for an unmarried individual who is not a surviving spouse moved to $2,050 from $2,000. The basic amounts for 2026 are $32,200, $24,150 and $16,100. The basic amounts Rev. Proc. 2024-40 had published for 2025 were later removed by Rev. Proc. 2025-32, so this site's 2025 page states the amounts that procedure restated instead.

Why did Rev. Proc. 2025-32 change the 2025 standard deduction table?

Because the law changed after Rev. Proc. 2024-40 was issued. Rev. Proc. 2025-32 explains that the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act amended § 63(c) to make the temporary increases in the basic standard deduction permanent and to raise the base amounts further. Rev. Proc. 2025-32 therefore removes the general standard deduction table in section 2.15 of Rev. Proc. 2024-40 and restates the 2025 basic amounts in its own section 3, so the figures that earlier procedure published for 2025 no longer stand.

How much extra standard deduction is there for someone 65 or older or blind in 2026?

The additional standard deduction amount under § 63(f) for the aged or the blind is $1,650 for taxable years beginning in 2026, and it is increased to $2,050 if the individual is also unmarried and not a surviving spouse. The wording is an increase, not a stack: an unmarried qualifying individual uses $2,050 as the additional amount rather than adding it to $1,650. The addition goes on top of the basic amount for the filing status.

What is the standard deduction for someone claimed as a dependent in 2026?

Rev. Proc. 2025-32 handles dependents separately. For taxable years beginning in 2026 the standard deduction under § 63 for an individual who may be claimed as a dependent by another taxpayer cannot exceed the greater of a fixed figure stated in that item or the sum of the individual's earned income and a further stated amount. Whichever is greater is the ceiling, and it sits far below the ordinary amount for the filing status.

Every amount on this page is a published figure rather than yours. The Standard deduction against itemising for a single filer takes the number you enter and works it out against them, showing which published figure it used.