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The Daily Insight

Are deductions for AGI always deductible?

Author

Henry Morales

Published Feb 24, 2026

It is an important number that is used by the IRS to determine how much you owe in taxes. AGI is calculated by taking your gross income from the year and subtracting any deductions that you are eligible to claim. Therefore, your AGI will always be less than or equal to your gross income.

Which expenses are deductible for AGI?

Above-the-line deductions are subtracted from your income before the adjusted gross income (AGI) is calculated for tax purposes. This would include items such as losses on a property sale, alimony payments and educational expenses.

What happens when you subtract standard deduction from AGI?

You can then subtract either the standard deduction or the total of your itemized deductions from your AGI. 4  The result tells is your taxable income, the figure that’s used to calculate your federal income tax liability—how much you owe the IRS or the amount of a tax refund you can expect.

Can you deduct health insurance premiums on an AGI?

Deduct health insurance premiums from individual AGI if you have an S-Corp trading company paying you W-2 wages which include your premiums. The plan must be in association with your small business and not a third-party employer plan for you or your spouse. Deduct health insurance premiums during the entity period, not before.

When to use adjusted gross income for itemized deductions?

Your adjusted gross income may be used for many calculations on your tax return. For example, you can only deduct medical expenses as itemized deductions to the extent they exceed 10 percent of your AGI (7.5 percent if you or your spouse are over age 65).

What are the deductions for adjusted gross income for 2019?

That number is set to rise to 10 percent for 2019. Let’s say Tom has adjusted gross income of $50,000 for the year. Let’s also suppose that Tom has medical expenses totaling $6,000 for the year. Tom can deduct his medical expenses to the extent that they exceed 7.5 percent of his AGI,…