Itemizing Your Standard Deduction

You would think a standard deduction would be a fixed amount. Well, for 2009, that’s not the case! In addition to the long-standing additions for being age 65 and over and being blind, you can also add on certain items for 2009 that normally would be deductible only to those who itemize their deductions. Don’t think that this article is only applicable to taxpayers using the standard deduction; some who would normally itemize may find it to their advantage to use the standard deduction plus the special add-ons in 2009.

So how is the standard deduction for 2009 determined? We start off with the basic standard amount, which is $11,400 for joint filers, $8,350 for those filing head-of-household and $5,700 for all others. To that, you would add the age and blind extra amounts, which are $1,100 each for joint filers and $1,400 for others. For example, a married couple both age 65 or over and one blind would qualify for an extra amount of $3,300 ($1,100 x 3). The following items that would normally require itemizing would be added to that total:

• Real Property Tax – Limited to $1,000 for joint filers and $500 to others.

• New Vehicle Sales Tax – Limited to the tax on the first $49,500 of each new vehicle purchased from February 17, 2009 through December 31, 2009 and subject to phase-out for higher-income taxpayers.

• Disaster Casualty Losses – Defined as a casualty loss related to a federally declared disaster. 

Continuing our previous example, if the couple had $2,400 of new car sales tax and real property taxes of $1,500, their total standard deduction for the year would be computed as follows:



An added complexity is the Alternative Minimum Tax, which does not allow the standard deduction with the exception of the qualified motor vehicle sales tax and disaster casualty loss deductions.

To determine whether to itemize or take the enhanced standard deduction requires computing both and using the better result. This office will do that automatically if you provide the necessary information. 

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