Standard Deduction or Itemizing: Why Long Island Homeowners Should Run the Numbers Again

From 2018 through 2024, the federal deduction for state and local taxes was capped at $10,000. For many Long Island homeowners, property taxes alone reached that limit, which made itemizing harder to justify for many households.

The cap increased beginning in 2025 and rises to $40,400 for 2026. If you switched to the standard deduction after 2017 and have not revisited the decision since, the math may favor itemizing again.

The Number You Have to Beat

Itemizing pays off when your deductible expenses add up to more than the standard deduction for your filing status. For 2026 those amounts are:

Filing Status	2025	2026
Single or Married Filing Separately	$15,750	$16,100
Married Filing Jointly	$31,500	$32,200
Head of Household	$23,625	$24,150

Before any adjustment for age or blindness, a married couple filing jointly needs more than $32,200 in itemized deductions to come out ahead by itemizing. A single filer needs more than $16,100.

Taxpayers who are 65 or older, or blind, add an additional standard deduction on top of those amounts, which raises the number their itemized deductions have to beat. For 2026 the additional amount is $1,650 per qualifying condition for married taxpayers and $2,050 for unmarried taxpayers. A married couple filing jointly where both spouses are 65 or older has a standard deduction of $35,500, and that is the figure their itemized deductions need to exceed.

What the Higher SALT Cap Changes

State and local taxes cover property taxes plus either state income tax or state sales tax, whichever you choose. For 2026 the combined deduction is capped at $40,400, or $20,200 for married filing separately. The cap phases down for modified adjusted gross income above $505,000, though it never drops below $10,000.

Consider a Nassau County couple in their fifties with $18,000 in property taxes and $9,000 in New York State income tax withheld. The old $10,000 cap let them deduct $10,000 of that $27,000. As long as their income stays below the phasedown threshold, the 2026 cap lets all $27,000 count. Add $11,000 of mortgage interest and they reach $38,000, comfortably past the $32,200 threshold, with charitable contributions still to come.

Under the old SALT cap, the same couple would have had a much harder time getting their itemized deductions above the standard deduction. That is the shift to check.

What Actually Counts as an Itemized Deduction

The categories that carry most of the weight for Long Island filers:

• State and local taxes: property taxes plus state income or sales tax, capped at $40,400 for 2026

• Mortgage interest: interest on qualifying home acquisition debt, generally up to $750,000 of debt taken out after December 15, 2017, or up to $1,000,000 for debt taken out on or before that date

• Charitable contributions: cash and non-cash gifts to qualified organizations, subject to a new 0.5% floor for 2026

• Medical and dental expenses: only the portion exceeding 7.5% of adjusted gross income, which is a high bar for most filers

Two changes take effect for 2026. Charitable contributions now carry a floor: subtract 0.5% of your adjusted gross income from your total giving, and only the remainder reaches Schedule A. On a $200,000 AGI, the first $1,000 of giving is disallowed and anything above that stays deductible. Separately, taxpayers in the highest federal bracket face a new limitation on the tax benefit from itemized deductions. It applies once taxable income exceeds $640,600 for single filers or $768,700 for joint filers.

Deductions You Get Either Way

Several deductions are available whether you itemize or take the standard deduction. They sit outside the comparison entirely, so they do not tip the decision either direction.

Taxpayers 65 and older may also claim a separate enhanced senior deduction of $6,000 per qualifying person, or $12,000 for a married couple where both qualify. This is distinct from the additional standard deduction described earlier. It phases out above $75,000 of modified adjusted gross income, or $150,000 for joint filers, and it is available regardless of which route you take.

Taxpayers who take the standard deduction can also claim up to $1,000 of cash charitable contributions, or $2,000 for joint filers. Deductions for qualified tips, overtime compensation, and passenger vehicle loan interest are claimed on Schedule 1-A and are likewise available to both groups.

How Far Over the Standard Deduction Are You?

Itemizing can produce a larger deduction on paper without producing much practical tax savings. It requires receipts, statements, acknowledgment letters from charities, and a Schedule A. A couple whose itemized deductions come to $32,500 against a $32,200 standard deduction is doing a great deal of work for $300 of additional deduction.

The comparison deserves a closer look for homeowners with five-figure property taxes, significant New York State income tax, deductible mortgage interest, and regular charitable giving.

Timing can also change the answer. Bunching two years of charitable giving into one tax year can push a borderline year over the threshold while the following year takes the standard deduction. Paying an upcoming property tax installment before year-end can sometimes do the same, but only when the tax has already been assessed and local rules allow early payment. Both strategies work best when planned before the year ends.

Check the Math Before You File

Add up last year's property tax bills, your state income tax withholding, your mortgage interest statement, and what you gave to charity. If that total lands anywhere near the standard deduction for your filing status, run the comparison carefully instead of defaulting to last year's answer.

Gregg Jaffe Tax Services compares both methods for individuals and families across Plainview and Long Island and can help plan deductions before year-end. Gregg has been preparing taxes for Long Island taxpayers for more than 25 years.

Phone: 516-770-5305

Email: GJaffetax@yahoo.com

Contact online: greggjaffetax.com/contact