Tax Deduction Tracker Template
Year-round tracking sheet for itemised deductions on Schedule A — keep records as you go, not in April.
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TAX DEDUCTION TRACKER — SCHEDULE A WORKSHEET
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Taxpayer: Jordan Alex Taylor
Tax year: 2026
Filing status: Single
Prepared: May 4, 2026
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LINE-BY-LINE (matches Form 1040 Schedule A)
Line 1 Medical & dental expenses (gross): $4,200.00
► Only the portion exceeding 7.5% of your AGI
is deductible — calculate at filing.
Line 5a State + local income taxes paid: $6,800.00
Line 5a OR sales tax (use the larger): $0.00
Line 5b Real estate property tax: $4,400.00
Line 5e SUM — capped at $10,000 (SALT cap): $10,000.00
► The State And Local Tax (SALT) deduction is
capped at $10,000 ($5,000 if MFS) under TCJA
through 2025; check 2026 status before filing.
Line 8a Home mortgage interest (Form 1098): $9,200.00
Line 11 Charitable contributions — cash: $2,300.00
Line 12 Charitable contributions — non-cash: $600.00
► Form 8283 required if total non-cash > $500.
► Receipt required for any single donation
≥ $250 (IRC §170(f)(8)).
Line 15 Casualty / theft loss (federally declared
disasters only after 2017): $0.00
OTHER ITEMISED (most miscellaneous deductions are
suspended through 2025 under TCJA):
Tax preparation fees: 0 (no longer deductible 2018-2025).
Unreimbursed employee expenses: 0 (no longer deductible 2018-2025).
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ITEMISED TOTAL (estimate): $26,300.00
STANDARD DEDUCTION for Single: $14,600.00
RECOMMENDED CHOICE: ITEMISE (Schedule A)
Margin: $11,700.00
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DOCUMENTATION CHECKLIST — what to keep with this tracker
□ Medical bills, prescription receipts, mileage to medical appointments
□ State & local income-tax payment confirmations or W-2 box 17 totals
□ Property-tax bills (real estate)
□ Form 1098 from mortgage lender
□ Receipts for cash donations (any single donation ≥ $250 needs a written acknowledgement)
□ Appraisals for non-cash donations > $5,000
□ FEMA disaster declaration documentation for casualty losses
□ All contemporaneous notes — the IRS rejects reconstructed records
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Maintain this worksheet alongside a folder (digital or paper) of source documents. The IRS's normal audit window is three years from the return due date, six years if income is understated by more than 25%, and unlimited for fraud. Keep records for at least seven years.
Worksheet last updated: May 4, 2026
About this template
Itemising deductions on Schedule A only beats the standard deduction when your eligible itemised expenses exceed it — for 2025 that was $14,600 single, $29,200 married-jointly, $21,900 head of household, with the 2026 figures published by the IRS in late 2025 (consult Form 1040 instructions or Pub 17 for the current year). Most filers take the standard deduction by default, but home-owners with a mortgage, residents of high-tax states, and people with significant medical expenses or charitable giving should track itemised deductions year-round to know which path wins. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) reshaped Schedule A in 2018: it capped state-and-local-tax (SALT) at $10,000 ($5,000 for married-filing-separately), suspended miscellaneous deductions like unreimbursed employee expenses and tax-prep fees through 2025, and limited casualty losses to federally-declared disasters. The 2025 sunset of TCJA provisions means 2026 rules may shift — track everything regardless, because the documentation burden is the same either way and the IRS's audit window is three years (six if you understate income by more than 25%). The real value of a year-round tracker is contemporaneous records: receipts saved as they come in, mileage logs written the day of the trip, donation acknowledgements filed immediately. Reconstructed records are the most common audit failure point, especially for charitable giving and self-employment expenses.
When to use it
- Tracking deductions year-round so April is a copy-paste exercise rather than a scavenger hunt.
- Comparing the itemised vs standard-deduction decision quarterly.
- Preparing for an audit (the tracker itself is contemporaneous evidence).
- Showing your CPA exactly what you have — saving billable hours.
- Estimating quarterly tax payments based on accumulated deductions.
What to include
- Filing status and tax year.
- Each Schedule A category broken out by line.
- SALT-cap calculation ($10,000 limit).
- Itemised vs standard-deduction comparison.
- Documentation checklist tied to each line.
- Sources of the source documents (where the receipts are filed).