How much is the standard deduction for married couples filing jointly in 2025?
Executive summary
The standard deduction for married couples filing jointly for tax year 2025 is $31,500, an increase from prior law driven by the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) and routine inflation adjustments, according to multiple tax outlets and practitioner guides [1] [2] [3]. Some background sources and older congressional summaries list a $30,000 figure for 2025, reflecting pre-OBBB tables or earlier drafts, which creates a notable discrepancy in public reporting [4] [5].
1. The headline number: $31,500 for married filing jointly in 2025
Authoritative tax guides and mainstream reporting published after the OBBB provision show the 2025 standard deduction for married couples filing jointly at $31,500, and they frame that figure as applying to tax year 2025 returns filed in 2026 (NerdWallet; CNN Business; Fidelity) [1] [2] [3]. These sources consistently present the same base amounts for other filing statuses—$15,750 for single filers and $23,625 for heads of household—aligning the married-joint number with those proportional increases [1] [2].
2. Why some sources still show $30,000: timing, drafts and legislative edits
A recurring cause of conflicting figures is timing: earlier revenue procedures, congressional summaries or pre-enactment tables cited $30,000 as the joint deduction before the OBBB’s change was finalized or widely reflected in reference databases (Congress.gov; IRS pre-OBBB notices) [4] [5]. Reporting windows and whether an outlet updated its story after the OBBB became law or after the IRS issued final inflation-adjustment guidance account for much of the divergence in published numbers [6] [5].
3. The extra considerations readers should know about the 2025 deduction
Beyond the base $31,500 figure, multiple sources note additional layers that affect married filers: seniors age 65+ can qualify for extra standard-deduction amounts (with a new larger “senior” deduction in 2025 that may add up to $12,000 for a married couple if both spouses qualify, subject to MAGI phaseouts), and certain income thresholds limit other senior-related benefits—details covered by H&R Block, TaxSlayer and Fidelity explainers [7] [8] [3]. Tax-policy trackers also emphasize that the OBBB altered some indexing and thresholds beyond the standard deduction, which can change how useful the standard deduction is compared with itemizing [9] [10].
4. Assessment of sources, implicit agendas and best-read guidance
Financial-media outlets and tax preparer websites (NerdWallet, CNN Business, Fidelity, Tax Foundation) converge on $31,500, reflecting post-OBBB law and IRS guidance; these outlets aim to be consumer-facing and often update numbers quickly [1] [2] [3] [5]. By contrast, static legislative summaries or older government tables that have not been revised may carry the $30,000 figure and can inadvertently perpetuate outdated information [4]. Users relying on a single pre-OBBB table risk undercounting the deduction; the best practice is to consult the IRS’s final inflation-adjustment guidance or updated practitioner summaries that explicitly state they reflect OBBB changes [6] [9].