Talk:Standard deduction

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Can one use Standard deduction while using Flexible spending accounts ?

See Flexible_spending_account#Advantages_and_disadvantages_of_all_FSAs, only expenses in excess of 7.5% of AGI are itemizable. So the answer is no.

Have Gun, Will Travel 04:06, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

This article has some problems.

"Individual taxpayers in the United States are allowed a choice"

well married taxpayers are allowed the same choice.

"After computing their Adjusted gross income (AGI), taxpayers can itemize when preparing their Federal income tax returns. After computing their Adjusted gross income (AGI), taxpayers can itemize their deductions (from a list of allowable items) and subtract those itemized deductions (and any applicable personal exemption deductions) from their AGI amount to arrive at their taxable income amount.

funny, I thought this article was Standard deduction; there already is an itemized deduction article. It's not like the law isn't confusing already...

I'll try to begin an overhaul. Have Gun, Will Travel 04:06, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Dear Have Gun, Will Travel: The term "individual" as used in the article does not mean "unmarried." The term is being used in the technical tax law sense (e.g., 26 U.S.C. ยง 1) of a living human (as opposed to a corporation, etc.), as in: some individuals are unmarried and other individuals are married.
I made some edits the other day, and I agree with you that these articles need some work. Yours, Famspear 15:20, 11 January 2007 (UTC)
Yes that's right. The problem begins in the tax law (and instructions) themselves: Form 1040 for Individuals. So a causual reader trying to get some better advice comes here on the standard deduction and gets more instructions for itemizers than what the standard deduction is. I think we can do better. And in tax season, it's sort of prioritizing things. Might as well start somewhere simple. Have Gun, Will Travel 22:44, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Information request

What percentage of Americans can itemize and beat the standard deduction? How does that number change when you break it down by income level? MrZaiustalk 13:33, 10 April 2007 (UTC)