Track and categorize tax-deductible expenses throughout the year with standard vs itemized deduction comparison and tax savings estimate.
This tool keeps a running ledger of expenses that can be itemized on Schedule A: charitable gifts, mortgage interest, state and local taxes, and medical bills. It totals each category, applies the limits the IRS builds into these deductions (a $10,000 cap on state and local taxes, a 7.5%-of-AGI floor on medical costs), then compares the result against the standard deduction for your filing status. The output is the amount by which itemizing beats the standard deduction, and the estimated tax that amount saves at your marginal rate. What surprises most people: the total often never passes the standard deduction, so the honest answer is 'don't itemize.'
A concrete input and expected output from the current implementation.
Input
Single filer, tax year 2025. Mortgage interest $9,000; state and local taxes $7,000; charitable contributions $4,500; medical expenses $2,000. AGI $60,000; marginal tax rate 22%.
Expected output
Itemized total: $20,500. Medical $2,000 counts nothing (7.5% of $60,000 AGI is $4,500, so nothing is above the floor); state and local taxes $7,000 are under the $10,000 cap. Standard deduction (single, 2025): $15,000. Itemizing wins by $5,500. Estimated tax savings: $5,500 x 22% = $1,210.
Only the excess of itemized over the standard deduction matters, because every single filer already gets $15,000 without any records. That $5,500 excess, taxed at the 22% marginal rate, is what switching to itemizing actually saves.
Each expense you record is assigned to a Schedule A category: charitable gifts, home mortgage interest, state and local taxes, medical and dental, and other deductible items. Before totaling, the tool applies the statutory limits: state and local income, sales, and property taxes count up to $10,000 combined ($5,000 if married filing separately), and medical expenses count only above 7.5% of adjusted gross income.
The tool compares your capped itemized total with the standard deduction for your filing status (2025: $15,000 single, $30,000 married filing jointly, $22,500 head of household). When itemized is larger, the difference is multiplied by your marginal tax rate - which you supply - to estimate the tax saved by itemizing. When itemized is smaller, the estimate is zero: the standard deduction is the better choice, and the tool says so plainly.
Whichever gives you the larger deduction. Itemize only when your allowed itemized total exceeds the standard deduction for your filing status - $15,000 for single filers in 2025 - which is what the tool's comparison checks. The large majority of taxpayers take the standard deduction, so a zero-savings result is common, not an error. All calculations run locally in your browser; your figures never leave your machine.
No - only the portion above the floor. For 2025, unreimbursed medical and dental expenses count to the extent they exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income. With $60,000 AGI, the first $4,500 of bills contributes nothing; the tracker applies the floor automatically, which is why the example above reports $0 for a $2,000 bill.
The example and behavioral notes were checked against the browser implementation. Standards and primary references below define the relevant format, formula, or platform behavior.
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