Assume someone is married, combined they make $45,000, and own a house on which they owe $100,000. They give 10% of their income to charity, pay 5.5% interest on their mortgage (they have an interest-only loan and have made no principal reductions), and had $3,200 in medical expenses. Would they be better off to use the standard deduction or itemize? Make sure that you show your work on each circumstance and the overall benefit of the method you determined to be best.