# Can I take the standard tax deduction and still deduct interest on my house? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 2, 2006, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-take-the-standard-tax-deduction-and-still-deduct-interest-on-my-house/342713 "2006-02-02T19:34:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![StewieGriffin420](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@StewieGriffin420](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StewieGriffin420)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-take-the-standard-tax-deduction-and-still-deduct-interest-on-my-house/342713/1 "2006-02-02T19:34:08Z")
I paid like 5000 in interest on my home last year, I know this is tax deductible. on the ez form I can take an 8200 deduction. if I use the itemized form can I take the standard deduction AND deduct the interest on my house? ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-take-the-standard-tax-deduction-and-still-deduct-interest-on-my-house/342713/2 "2006-02-02T19:44:31Z")
Warning: IANAL, and IANA tax accountant. But if you’re willing to trust the word of a guy who _used_ to be a paid tax preparer, and who still does his own taxes, the answer is NO. It’s an either-or. ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-take-the-standard-tax-deduction-and-still-deduct-interest-on-my-house/342713/3 "2006-02-02T19:50:06Z")
The purpose of the standard deduction is to give everyone a reasonable figure for things like home mortgage, medical expenses, charitable deductions, etc. That way, most people don’t need to bother with keeping receipts and accounting for each expense. The only time it makes sense to itemize deductions is if you know that your deductible expenses in one or more of the categories is more than the standard deduction. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-take-the-standard-tax-deduction-and-still-deduct-interest-on-my-house/342713/4 "2006-02-02T19:53:08Z")
In addition, you can only itemize if your total deductions are more than the standard deduction (well, I suppose you _could_ do it, but you’d be a fool to). That can be difficult to do. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-take-the-standard-tax-deduction-and-still-deduct-interest-on-my-house/342713/5 "2006-02-02T19:53:54Z")
And remember, you can also deduct property taxes if you itemize, as well as the interest. That, along with other things you can deduct may well make it worthwile for you. ---
**Author:** ![Bytegeist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Bytegeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bytegeist)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-take-the-standard-tax-deduction-and-still-deduct-interest-on-my-house/342713/6 "2006-02-02T22:12:23Z")
From [here](http://www.irs.gov/publications/p17/pt05.html), the IRS’s _Your Federal Income Tax_ publication: > [@](#): > > **Part Five - Standard Deduction and Itemized Deductions** > > After you have figured your adjusted gross income, you are ready to subtract the deductions used to figure taxable income. **You can subtract either the standard deduction or itemized deductions.** Itemized deductions are deductions for certain expenses that are listed on Schedule A (Form 1040). […] See chapter 20 for the factors to consider when deciding whether to subtract the standard deduction or itemized deductions. > > **Home Mortgage Interest** > > […] > > You can deduct home mortgage interest only if you meet all the following conditions. > [ul] > [li]You must file Form 1040 and itemize deductions on Schedule A (Form 1040).[/li][li] […][/li][/ul] So as people have said, it’s either the one or the other, but not both.