should i take the standard deduction 
you should take the standard deduction or itemize deductions depending on which results in a lower tax bill you may have to estimate your allowable deductions at least roughly to figure that out also keep in mind that you have to maintain records and receipts of deductible expenses throughout the year in order to back up the numbers you enter on schedule a there may be some years when you have good reason to itemize your deductions for example if you have very high unreimbursed medical expenses for one year they could amount to tax savings greater than the standard deduction the bottom linea deductible is an expense that a taxpayer or business can subtract from adjusted gross income reducing thus the amount of taxes they owe the irs provides lists requirements and amounts of all available deductibles most taxpayers use the standard deduction when filing taxes which for 2024 is 14 600 for single taxpayers and married couples filing separately 29 200 for married couples filing jointly and 21 900 for heads of households 4taxpayers with very high deductible expenses may opt to itemize their deductibles in that case schedule a form must be attached to the main tax form 