The SALT cap, worked out the way the One Big Beautiful Bill rewrote it: $40,000 for 2025 and $40,400 for 2026 — four times the old $10,000 cap — shrinking once your MAGI passes $500,000, and never below $10,000. This one is different from the other four new deductions: it lives on Schedule A, so the itemizing question matters as much as the cap.
State and local income tax (or general sales tax, if you elect it instead) plus real-estate and personal-property taxes — the amounts that go on Schedule A, lines 5 and 6.
Mortgage interest, charitable donations and everything else on your Schedule A. The SALT cap only matters if this total, plus your SALT, beats the standard deduction — the calculator compares them for you.
For most people MAGI is simply your AGI (Form 1040, line 11) — the Schedule 1-A version only adds back a few foreign-income exclusions. Include the income you are deducting; the phase-outs run off this figure.
Your deductible SALT
$18,500
For tax year 2025 at a MAGI of $120,000 (Single). Your itemized deductions total $27,500 against a standard deduction of $15,750 — itemizing puts you $11,750 ahead.
You deduct (SALT)
$18,500
Your cap
$40,000
Total itemized
$27,500
Standard deduction
$15,750
Your MAGI is $120,000. The cap is whole until $500,000, then loses 30 cents per dollar over it, and never drops below $10,000.
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| State and local taxes you paid | $18,500 |
| Cap before the phase-out (2025) | $40,000 |
| Your MAGI | $120,000 |
| Cap starts shrinking at | $500,000 |
| Income over the threshold | $0 |
| Cap cut (30% of the excess, floor $10,000) | −$0 |
| Your SALT cap | $40,000 |
| Deductible SALT — smaller of what you paid or the cap | $18,500 |
The cap is simple; the catch is that the cap is only half the question. The four things that decide what SALT is worth to you:
The One Big Beautiful Bill quadrupled the $10,000 cap from 2025. It rises about 1% a year through 2029 — then, as the law stands, snaps back to $10,000 in 2030. Married filing separately gets exactly half at every step.
Source: IRS Publication 530 (2025); IRS correction to the 2026 Form 1040-ES.Past MAGI of $500,000 ($250,000 MFS; $505,000/$252,500 in 2026) the cap loses 30 cents per extra dollar — but never below $10,000 ($5,000 MFS). The floor is reached at $600,000 of MAGI in 2025.
Source: Publication 530 (2025), the SALT cap worksheet arithmetic.State and local income taxes (or, electively, general sales taxes instead), real-estate taxes and personal-property taxes. Foreign real-estate taxes no longer count, and prepaying next year’s taxes does not move them into this year.
Source: Schedule A instructions; Publication 530.A $40,000 cap is worth $0 if your total Schedule A is under the standard deduction ($15,750 single / $31,500 joint in 2025; $16,100 / $32,200 in 2026). Compare the totals before celebrating the cap.
Source: IRS Rev. Proc. 2024-40 and 2025-32 (standard deductions).A single filer in 2025 pays $12,000 of state income tax and $6,500 of property tax — $18,500 of SALT — plus $9,000 of mortgage interest and charity. Her MAGI is $120,000, far under the $500,000 threshold, so her cap is the full $40,000 and every dollar of her $18,500 counts. Itemized total: $27,500, against a $15,750 standard deduction — itemizing wins by $11,750, and the SALT inside it is worth real money.
Now give her a MAGI of $550,000 and $30,000 of SALT: the excess over $500,000 is $50,000, the cap is cut by 30% of that ($15,000) to $25,000, and only $25,000 of her $30,000 is deductible. At $600,000 the cap reaches its $10,000 floor. The calculator above runs exactly this arithmetic — including the 2026 figures, where the cap is $40,400 and the threshold $505,000.
Three situations where the answer disappoints for reasons that have nothing to do with the cap itself:
If your mortgage interest, charity and capped SALT together come to less than the standard deduction, SALT’s value to you is $0 this year — the cap never gets a chance to matter.
Every SALT number halves: $20,000 cap in 2025, clawback from $250,000, $5,000 floor — and the MFS standard deduction is the single one, which makes itemizing harder to win.
As enacted, the higher cap runs 2025–2029 and reverts to $10,000 in 2030. Multi-year plans (a house purchase, a move) should not bank on $40,000 lasting.
State and local income taxes — or general sales taxes if you elect them instead of income taxes — plus real-estate (property) taxes and personal-property taxes. All of them together share the one cap.
The One Big Beautiful Bill phases the higher cap back down for high earners: 30% of MAGI over $500,000 is taken off the cap, down to a $10,000 floor. The clawback thresholds rise 1% a year with the cap ($505,000 in 2026).
No — and the distinction matters. Overtime, tips, senior and car-loan deductions are on Schedule 1-A and work with the standard deduction. SALT is an itemized deduction on Schedule A: it only pays if itemizing beats the standard deduction overall.
No. Taxes are deductible in the year they are assessed for, in this context — prepaying a future year’s property tax does not move it into 2025. (A payment of a tax already assessed, made before year-end, is a different and legitimate move.)
The cap rises about 1% a year through 2029 and reverts to $10,000 in 2030, as the law currently stands.
Sources & verification. IRS Publication 530 (2025), “Tax Information for Homeowners” — the $40,000 cap, the 30% reduction over $500,000 of MAGI and the $10,000 floor. IRS correction notice to the 2026 Form 1040-ES — the 2026 cap of $40,400 and threshold of $505,000. Standard deductions: IRS Rev. Proc. 2024-40 (2025) and Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (2026).
Figures checked 4 November 2026 against the IRS sources above. This calculator is an estimator for planning, not tax advice.
Spotted a figure that looks wrong? Report it — accuracy is the whole point of these pages.
Related: state income tax itself is in the state tax brackets family; the other four new deductions are in the hub.
100% free · No sign-up · No daily limits · No watermarks · Processed in your browser — files never leave your device
The One Big Beautiful Bill raised the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap from $10,000 to $40,000 for 2025 ($40,400 for 2026), phasing down by 30% of MAGI over $500,000 ($505,000 in 2026) to a $10,000 floor, before reverting to $10,000 in 2030. Because SALT is an itemized deduction, this calculator also compares your itemized total with the standard deduction for your status and year.
A single filer in 2025 with $18,500 of SALT, $9,000 of other itemized deductions and a MAGI of $120,000 has the full $40,000 cap, deducts all $18,500, and itemizes $27,500 against a $15,750 standard deduction — itemizing wins by $11,750.
The cap follows Publication 530 (2025): $40,000 ($20,000 MFS) reduced by 30% of MAGI over $500,000 ($250,000 MFS), never below $10,000 ($5,000 MFS); 2026 figures ($40,400 / $505,000) come from the IRS correction to the 2026 Form 1040-ES. Standard deductions are Rev. Proc. 2024-40 (2025) and 2025-32 (2026).
State and local income taxes (or general sales taxes if you elect them instead), real-estate taxes and personal-property taxes — all sharing the one cap.
Above $500,000 of MAGI ($505,000 in 2026) the cap loses 30 cents per extra dollar, down to a floor of $10,000 — $5,000 if married filing separately.
No. SALT is on Schedule A and only pays when your itemized total beats the standard deduction; the other four are on Schedule 1-A and work either way.
It rises about 1% a year through 2029, then reverts to $10,000 in 2030 as the law currently stands.
What is missing, broken, or could be better on this tool? Tell us — we read every suggestion.
✅ Thanks — your suggestion has been received. Suggestions like yours shape what we build next.