How do itemized deductions work for dependents on 2025 taxes?

When you're claimed as a dependent, you can still file your own tax return and claim itemized deductions, but there are some important limitations to know about. First, as a dependent, your standard deduction is limited. For 2025, it would be either $1,300 or your earned income plus $400, whichever is greater (but not exceeding the regular standard deduction amount). Since you earned $18,500, your standard deduction would be capped at the regular amount. For your specific expenses: Medical expenses are only deductible if they exceed 7.5% of your AGI. With $18,500 income, that means only medical expenses above about $1,388 would count (so roughly $1,412 of your $2,800). Charitable donations are deductible. However, job expenses aren't typically deductible for employees since the 2018 tax law changes. To decide whether itemizing makes sense, add up all your qualifying deductions and compare to your standard deduction amount. If your itemized deductions are higher, then itemizing would be beneficial.

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Does anyone know if student loan interest can be deducted if you're a dependent? I paid about $1,800 in interest last year on my loans even though I'm still claimed by my parents. My tax software is giving me conflicting information about whether I can take this deduction.

For what it's worth, I itemized deductions as a dependent last year and it was definitely worth it in my case. Had about $14,000 in medical expenses after a major surgery (which easily cleared the 7.5% AGI threshold) plus some charitable donations. The key thing I learned is that you need to be the one who actually paid the expenses if you want to claim them. So I made sure to pay my medical bills directly from my account rather than having my parents pay them, even though they offered. Made documentation much cleaner for tax purposes.

Katherine, you're definitely on the right track asking about this! As a dependent, you can absolutely file your own return and itemize deductions if it benefits you. Looking at your specific situation: Your $2,800 in medical expenses could be partially deductible since they need to exceed 7.5% of your $18,500 AGI (so about $1,388). That means roughly $1,412 of your medical bills would qualify. Your $500 charitable donation to the university is fully deductible since you made it with your own money. However, those job expenses related to your internship likely aren't deductible anymore due to tax law changes in 2018 - unreimbursed employee expenses were eliminated for most people. So you'd potentially have around $1,912 in itemized deductions ($1,412 medical + $500 charitable). As a dependent, your standard deduction would be $18,900 (your earned income plus $400, but capped at the regular standard deduction). In your case, itemizing probably wouldn't be worth it since your itemized amount is much lower than the standard deduction. The good news is you can still claim these on your own return - they don't go to your parents just because you're a dependent. Just make sure you have good documentation showing you personally paid these expenses!