2018 Standard Deduction Amounts, Mileage Rates and Itemized Deduction Changes

Standard Deduction for 2018
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act increased the standard deduction amounts for 2018 as follows:

• $24,000 – Married Filing Jointly/Surviving Spouse
• $12,000 - Single or Married Filing Separately
• $18,000 - Heads of Household

Additional Standard Deduction for Aged/Blind:

• $1,300 – Married or surviving spouse 
• $1,600 – Unmarried and not a surviving spouse

Standard Deduction for individuals who may be claimed as a dependent cannot exceed the greater of $1,050 or the sum of $350 (up to the standard deduction amount) and the individual’s earned income.

For more details see IRS Revenue Procedure 2018-10.

Also remember a deduction for exemptions is no longer applicable for 2018.

Mileage Rates for 2018

• Business purposes: 54.5 cents per mile
• Medical of moving purposes: 18 cents per mile
• Charitable purposes: 14 cents per mile

For more details see Standard Mileage Rates for 2018 up from Rates for 2017 on the IRS website.

Itemized Deduction Changes for 2018
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act made the following changes to itemized deductions for 2018:

• Itemized deduction for state and local income, sales and property taxes on Schedule A is limited to $10,000.
• Mortgage Interest is only deductible on a taxpayer’s principal home and the for a mortgage on a home purchased after December 15, 2017 the interest is limited to interest on up to $750,000 of a loan.
• Home equity loan interest is only deductible if the loan is used to improve an existing home. If the home equity loan was used to pay personal expenses, such as credit card debts, it is not deductible.
• Job expenses and miscellaneous itemized deductions subject to 2% AGI floor are no longer deductible on Schedule A. This includes employee business expenses that were reported on Form 2106 such as vehicle expenses, travel expenses, meals and entertainment, job education, etc.
• Only casualty losses that are attributable to a presidentially declared disaster will be deductible as an itemized deduction on Schedule A.
• The medical deduction threshold is 7.5% for 2018.