Updated September 29, 2026. Quick answer: The new age-65-and-older “senior deduction” created by the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act is a flat $6,000 per qualified individual, meaning the taxpayer and, on a joint return, a spouse who is 65 or older (26 U.S.C. §151(d)(5)(C)) for tax years 2025 through 2028, with no inflation adjustment written into the statute, so the 2026 and 2027 amounts are the same $6,000. It phases out at 6 percent of modified adjusted gross income over $75,000 single or $150,000 joint, reaching zero at $175,000 single and $250,000 joint, and the deduction disappears entirely for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2029.
The 2025 standard deduction: the 2025 standard deduction.
The 2026 totals for filers 65 and older: the 2026 standard deduction for filers 65 and older and the 2026 standard deduction.
The senior deduction, 2025-2028
| Year | Amount per qualified individual | Phase-out starts (single / joint) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $6,000 | $75,000 / $150,000 |
| 2026 | $6,000 | $75,000 / $150,000 |
| 2027 (fixed by statute, not a projection) | $6,000 | $75,000 / $150,000 |
| 2028 (last eligible year) | $6,000 | $75,000 / $150,000 |
Why this figure never changes, and when it disappears
26 U.S.C. §151(d)(5)(C), added by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 (Public Law 119-21, §70103(a)(3)), allows “a deduction in an amount equal to $6,000 for each qualified individual with respect to the taxpayer” for any tax year beginning before January 1, 2029. Nothing in the clause cross-references the Code’s cost-of-living mechanism, so the $6,000 does not move with inflation the way most figures on this site do. It stacks on top of the regular standard deduction and the existing additional standard deduction for age 65+ or blindness. The phase-out reduces the $6,000 by 6 percent of modified adjusted gross income over $75,000 (single, head of household, or qualifying surviving spouse) or $150,000 (joint return); reading the statute’s own math (6 percent of the excess reaches $6,000 once the excess hits $100,000), the deduction reaches zero at $175,000 MAGI for a single filer and at $250,000 MAGI for a joint return, whether one or both spouses are 65 or older, because the reduction is computed once against the shared $150,000 joint threshold and then applied per qualified individual.
Why no forecaster projects this figure
Every other page in this series either cites an IRS-published figure or a named professional forecaster’s projection. This one needs neither for 2027: the statute itself fixes the dollar amount and the phase-out thresholds through 2028, so there is nothing for Milliman, Bloomberg Tax, or Thomson Reuters Checkpoint to forecast. The only way the 2027 figure changes is if Congress amends or repeals §151(d)(5)(C) before then, which no pending legislation does as of this page’s last update.
The rates are already settled. Only the thresholds are still moving.
That is enough to plan against. A Roth conversion, a deferred bonus or a gain taken in 2027 can be sized today against the 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35% and 37% rates the statute already fixes, without waiting for the Revenue Procedure. If you want someone to price that decision against your own income rather than a projection, this is the point to ask.
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Sources
The senior deduction amount and phase-out on this page were checked against 26 U.S.C. §151(d)(5)(C) and the IRS senior deduction guidance on September 29, 2026.
- 26 U.S.C. §151(d)(5)(C), via Cornell Law School's Legal Information Institute: the $6,000 deduction, the $75,000/$150,000 phase-out thresholds, the 6 percent phase-out rate, and the pre-2029 sunset, read directly from the codified statute.
- 26 U.S.C. §151 (uscode.house.gov): the statute that defines these figures.
Statute: 26 U.S.C. §151(d)(5)(C), added by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 (Public Law 119-21), §70103(a)(3).
Related
General information, not tax or legal advice. This page will be updated with the official 2027 figure the day it is announced.