Schedule A Line 5d — Total State and Local Taxes Before Limit

Q: What is Schedule A Line 5d — Total State and Local Taxes Before Limit?

The total of lines 5a through 5c -- your combined state and local income (or sales) taxes, personal property taxes, and real estate taxes before the SALT deduction cap is applied. This is an intermediate calculation. The actual deductible amount is the lesser of this total and $40,000 ($20,000 if married filing separately), subject to a phasedown for filers with MAGI above $500,000, which goes on line 5e.

What this line means

The total of lines 5a through 5c — your combined state and local income (or sales) taxes, personal property taxes, and real estate taxes before the SALT deduction cap is applied. This is an intermediate calculation. The actual deductible amount is the lesser of this total and $40,000 ($20,000 if married filing separately), subject to a phasedown for filers with MAGI above $500,000, which goes on line 5e. ¹

Does this apply to you?

Everyone claiming state and local tax deductions on Schedule A calculates this total
This is a simple addition: line 5a + line 5b + line 5c

Easy to overlook

The SALT cap is $40,000 for most filers under the OBBBA The One Big Beautiful Bill Act raised the SALT cap from $10,000 to $40,000 for tax years 2025-2029. Married filing separately filers get a $20,000 cap. For filers with MAGI above $500,000, the cap phases down by 30% of the excess over $500,000, with a floor of $10,000. This is a significant change from the $10,000 cap that applied from 2018 through 2024. ¹ IRS Schedule A instructions — Line 5d

Tracking your total SALT helps with state tax planning Knowing your total SALT before the cap tells you how much deduction you are losing. If your total is $50,000 but you can only deduct $40,000, you are leaving $10,000 of deductions on the table. This information is useful for evaluating strategies like contributing to state-level pass-through entity tax programs that bypass the SALT cap entirely. ² General filing pattern — SALT total before cap

Watch out for this

Using the old $10,000 cap from 2018-2024 instead of the new $40,000 cap for 2025. The OBBBA changed the cap effective for tax year 2025. Filers relying on prior-year knowledge or outdated tax guides may apply the wrong limit and significantly understate their deduction.

IRS Schedule A (Form 1040) Instructions, Line 5d. https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1040sca ↩ ↩²
IRS Schedule A (Form 1040) Instructions. See also IRS Publication 17, Your Federal Income Tax. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p17.pdf ↩

5d — Total State and Local Taxes Before Limit Updated for tax year 2025

What this line means

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Easy to overlook

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Footnotes

Related lines on your return