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SALT deduction cap calculator (2025-2029): itemize or take the standard deduction?

The OBBBA raised the federal cap on state and local tax (SALT) deductions from $10,000 to $40,000 for 2025, rising about 1%/year through 2029 -- with a MAGI-based phase-down above $500,000. Enter your filing status, income, and the state/local/property taxes you actually paid to see your allowed SALT deduction, your full itemized total, and whether it beats your standard deduction.

✓ Checked26 U.S.C. §164(b)(6)-(7), as amended by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (P.L. 119-21, §70120), and the IRS's 2025 Schedule A State and Local Tax Deduction Worksheet
Itemize or take the standard deduction?–
SALT paid (state/local + property tax)
This year's base SALT cap (before phase-down)
MAGI phase-out threshold
Reduction from the MAGI phase-down
SALT deduction allowed
SALT paid but lost to the cap
Other itemized deductions
Total itemized deductions
Your standard deduction
Itemizing wins by

This only helps if you itemize on Schedule A -- if the standard deduction wins, the SALT cap doesn't matter at all, since you get $0 benefit from any itemized deduction. Married filing separately gets half the cap, half the MAGI threshold, and effectively half the $10,000 floor ($5,000) -- see the worked examples in the SALT deduction cap guide for exactly how that halving is applied (it isn't as simple as halving every number by itself). Figures are fixed by year through 2029 under 26 U.S.C. §164(b)(7); 2027-2029 project the statute's 1%/year increase, and the standard deduction shown for 2027-2029 just carries the 2026 IRS amount forward as a placeholder since the IRS hasn't set those years yet -- edit it once they do. After 2029 the cap reverts to a flat $10,000 ($5,000 MFS) with no MAGI phase-down at all, unless Congress acts first. See what your SALT and itemized totals are actually worth in tax dollars in the 2026 income tax calculator (enter the "Total itemized deductions" figure above as its itemized deductions input). Not tax advice.

How it works

The OBBBA raised the itemized SALT deduction cap from $10,000 to $40,000 for 2025, rising about 1%/year through 2029 then reverting to $10,000 in 2030 (26 U.S.C. §164(b)(6)-(7)). Above $500,000 of MAGI the cap phases down 30% of the excess, floored at $10,000. Married filing separately gets a halved cap and threshold, and an effective $5,000 floor -- not because the floor itself is halved, but because the whole finished cap is halved last, floor included. It only helps if you itemize. More in the SALT deduction cap guide, including five worked examples and the MFS floor explained in full.

Worked examples