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Department of the Treasury Internal Revenue Service 2019 Instructions for Schedule A (Rev. January 2020) Itemized Deductions Use Schedule A (Form 1040 or 1040-SR) to figure your itemized deductions. In most cases, your federal income tax will be less if you take the larger of your itemized de- ductions or your standard deduction. If you itemize, you can deduct a part of your medical and dental expenses, and amounts you paid for certain taxes, interest, contributions, and other expenses. You can also deduct certain casualty and theft losses. If you and your spouse paid expenses jointly and are filing separate returns for 2019, see Pub. 504 to figure the portion of joint expenses that you can claim as itemiz- ed deductions. Don't include on Schedule A items deducted elsewhere, such as on Form 1040, Form 1040-SR, or Schedule C, E, or F. CAUTION ! Section references are to the Internal Revenue Code unless otherwise noted. Future Developments. For the latest information about developments related to Schedule A (Form 1040 or 1040-SR) and its instructions, such as legislation enacted after they were published, go to IRS.gov/ScheduleA. What's New Mortgage insurance premiums. Re- cent legislation extended to 2019 (and retroactively to 2018) the deduction for mortgage insurance premiums. See Line 8d, later, for more information. If you are eligible for this deduction in 2019, you can claim it on your 2019 re- turn. If you are eligible to claim this de- duction for tax year 2018, you will need to file an amended return, Form 1040-X, to do so. See IRS.gov/Form1040X for more information about amending a tax return. Qualified contributions. Recent legis- lation extended to 2019 (and retroactive- ly to 2018) the temporary increase in the limitation on qualified contributions. See Line 11, later, and Pub. 526 for more information. If you are eligible to deduct a qualified contribution in 2019, you can elect to do so on your 2019 re- turn. If you are eligible to deduct a quali- fied contribution in 2018, you will need to file an amended return, Form 1040-X, to make the election to deduct that con- tribution as a qualified contribution. See IRS.gov/Form1040X for more informa- tion about amending a tax return. Charitable contribution deduction. Generally, your charitable contribution deduction must be reduced to the extent that you receive a state or local tax cred- it in return for your contribution. How- ever, you may qualify for safe harbor rules that allow the disallowed amount to be treated as a state or local tax pay- ment. See Line 5, later, for more infor- mation. Standard mileage rates. The standard mileage rate allowed for operating ex- penses for a car when you use it for medical reasons increased to 20 cents a mile. The 2019 rate for use of your vehi- cle to do volunteer work for certain charitable organizations remains at 14 cents a mile. Medical and Dental Expenses You can deduct only the part of your medical and dental expenses that ex- ceeds 7.5% of the amount of your adjus- ted gross income on Form 1040 or 1040-SR, line 8b. If you received a distribution from a health savings account or a medical savings account in 2019, see Pub. 969 to figure your deduc- tion. Deceased taxpayer. Certain medical expenses paid out of a deceased taxpay- er's estate can be claimed on the de- ceased taxpayer's final return. See Pub. 502 for details. More information. Pub. 502 discusses the types of expenses you can and can’t deduct. It also explains when you can deduct capital expenses and special care expenses for disabled persons. Examples of Medical and Dental Payments You Can Deduct To the extent you weren't reimbursed, you can deduct what you paid for: • Insurance premiums for medical and dental care, including premiums for qualified long-term care insurance con- tracts as defined in Pub. 502. But see Limit on long-term care premiums you can deduct, later. Reduce the insurance premiums by any self-employed health insurance deduction you claimed on Schedule 1 (Form 1040 or 1040-SR), line 16. You can't deduct insurance pre- miums paid by making a pre-tax reduc- tion to your employee compensation be- cause these amounts are already being excluded from your income by not being CAUTION ! A-1 Jan 16, 2020 Cat. No. 53061X