MOVE · SIDE-BY-SIDE COMPARISON · NOTE 15

The 2026 filing-status deduction gap

IRS-published 2026 standard deductions are translated into taxable-income differences before any city comparison is attempted.

INPUT AND EVIDENCE LEDGER

Put the two cases on the same footing.

FieldValueOrigin
Single / married filing separately$16,100IRS 2026 standard deduction
Head of household$24,150IRS 2026 standard deduction
Married filing jointly$32,200IRS 2026 standard deduction
Income example$100,000 before deductionsControlled comparison input

DECISION READING

Read the gap, not just the winner.

MOVE cannot produce one credible tax result from salary and city alone. Filing status changes the taxable base before marginal brackets are applied, so it must remain a visible user input.

REPRODUCIBLE WORK

The comparison ledger.

CheckFormula or ruleResult
Single taxable base$100,000 − $16,100$83,900
Head-of-household base$100,000 − $24,150$75,850
Joint base$100,000 − $32,200$67,800
Largest base gap$83,900 − $67,800$16,100 before brackets, credits, and other deductions

SOURCE SNAPSHOT

The official values behind the comparison.

SENSITIVITY

Conditions that can reverse the gap.

  • Itemized deductions can replace the standard deduction.
  • Credits and household-specific deductions are separate from this calculation.
  • A joint return combines income, so the $100K example is not a household forecast.

OWNER AUTHORIZATION + VERIFICATION RECORD

One accountable operator and a reproducible check record.

The TOOOLBOX site owner authorized this publication scope and remains the correction contact. The checks below were completed during preparation with AI-assisted implementation; they are an audit record, not a claim of licensed professional review.

Review ID
TB-MOVE-15-20260902
Owner role
TOOOLBOX site owner and developer
Release scope
Owner-authorized · 2026-09-02
Correction channel
Public contact page
  1. Matched all three deduction values to the IRS release.
  2. Recomputed the taxable bases from the declared $100K example.
  3. Checked that deductions are not described as tax savings dollar-for-dollar.

BOUNDARIES

Claims this comparison cannot support.

  • This is federal taxable-income setup, not final tax liability.
  • State and local rules are excluded.
  • Tax law can change; the page is tied to tax year 2026.

MORE MOVE DECISION NOTES

Compare another evidence pattern.

The related notes deliberately use different questions, data states, and editorial forms.

18 · $100K does not buy the same regional basket19 · A national labor headline is not a destination verdict