I thought the basic idea of the standard deduction was that it's (maybe, or maybe this is a bit too much of a stretch) a rough estimate of typical itemized deductions, and if your actual deductible stuff is less than that, you get to skip the paperwork and claim the extra bonus deduction. The spirit of that makes me doubt you can carry any itemized deductions over if you choose to take the standard deduction instead of itemizing.
Though another thing that goes into this is that having a standard deduction and a personal exemption is a way to make the tax system more progressive / less regressive (that is, by having a fixed dollar amount, it benefits the poor more than the rich when looking at it as percentage of income).
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
13/4/09 02:22 (UTC)Though another thing that goes into this is that having a standard deduction and a personal exemption is a way to make the tax system more progressive / less regressive (that is, by having a fixed dollar amount, it benefits the poor more than the rich when looking at it as percentage of income).