How to Fill Out Form IT-196 for NY Itemized Deductions

To fill out Form IT-196, you work through the deduction categories in order — medical, taxes, interest, charity, casualty losses, job expenses, and other items — then apply New York’s own adjustments on the back half of the form before comparing the result to the state standard deduction. The form exists because New York doesn’t accept your federal itemized total as-is: it uses a higher medical floor, ignores the federal SALT cap, strips out state income taxes, preserves deductions the IRS eliminated, and reduces the total for higher-income filers. You attach it to Form IT-201 (full-year residents) or Form IT-203 (nonresidents and part-year residents).1New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. New York Resident, Nonresident, and Part-Year Resident Itemized Deductions IT-196

Decide Whether Itemizing Beats the Standard Deduction

Only complete the form if your adjusted itemized total will beat New York’s standard deduction. For 2025, those amounts are $8,000 for single filers (not claimed as a dependent), $16,050 for married filing jointly and qualifying surviving spouses, $8,000 for married filing separately, $11,200 for head of household, and $3,100 for single filers claimed as a dependent.2New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. 2025 Standard Deductions

One point catches many filers: since 2018, you can itemize for New York even if you took the federal standard deduction. The elections are decoupled.3New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Itemized Deductions (2025) If you go this route, prepare a federal Schedule A “as if” you had itemized, using the 2017 Schedule A instructions as your guide, to generate the numbers IT-196 needs.4Department of Taxation and Finance. Instructions for Form IT-196 New York Resident, Nonresident, and Part-Year Resident Itemized Deductions That “as if” schedule matters when your federal standard deduction ($15,000 single, $30,000 married filing jointly for 2025) beats your federal itemized total but your smaller New York standard deduction does not.

How the Form Is Organized

The first 40 lines collect raw deduction figures grouped by category. Lines 41 through 49 are where New York applies its own rules.

  • Lines 1–4: medical and dental expenses
  • Lines 5–9: taxes paid
  • Lines 10–15: interest paid
  • Lines 16–19: charitable gifts
  • Line 20: casualty and theft losses
  • Lines 21–28: job expenses and miscellaneous deductions
  • Lines 29–39: other itemized deductions
  • Line 40: total itemized deductions
  • Lines 41–49: New York adjustments, high-income reduction, and final comparison

Medical and Dental Expenses (Lines 1–4)

New York’s floor for medical deductions is 10% of your federal AGI, higher than the federal 7.5%.1New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. New York Resident, Nonresident, and Part-Year Resident Itemized Deductions IT-196 Enter total unreimbursed medical and dental expenses on line 1. Put your federal AGI on line 2 (from IT-201 line 19 or IT-203 line 19). Line 3 multiplies AGI by 10%. Line 4 is line 1 minus line 3.

Because of that higher floor, you can have a federal medical deduction and none at all for New York. On $50,000 in AGI, $4,500 in medical costs produces a $750 federal deduction (over the $3,750 floor) but nothing for New York (under the $5,000 floor). Factor this in before you decide itemizing is worthwhile.

Taxes You Paid (Lines 5–9)

This section causes the most confusion, because New York’s rules pull in two directions.

First, New York ignores the federal SALT cap. Whatever ceiling applies to your federal Schedule A does not carry over.4Department of Taxation and Finance. Instructions for Form IT-196 New York Resident, Nonresident, and Part-Year Resident Itemized Deductions Enter the full amounts: state and local income taxes (or general sales tax) on line 5, real estate taxes on line 6, personal property taxes on line 7, other taxes including foreign real estate taxes on line 8.

Second, New York does not allow a deduction for state and local income taxes against state income. You enter them on line 5, but you’ll subtract them back out on line 41. Real property taxes survive. If you claimed a New York property tax credit or received a rebate, reduce the amount on line 6 by that credit or rebate.

Interest You Paid (Lines 10–15)

Mortgage interest generally tracks the federal treatment. Line 10 is for mortgage interest and points reported on Form 1098. Line 11 handles mortgage interest not reported on a 1098 (for instance, interest paid to the person who sold you the home) — you’ll need their name, identifying number, and address. Line 12 covers points not on a 1098, line 13 is reserved, and line 14 is investment interest. New York follows the federal rules on qualified residence interest, so the same loan limits and home-equity restrictions apply.

Gifts to Charity (Lines 16–19)

Cash and check contributions go on line 16, noncash contributions on line 17, and prior-year carryovers on line 18. These amounts mirror federal Schedule A. For any single contribution of $250 or more, keep the written acknowledgment from the organization stating the amount, describing any goods or services you received in return, and confirming whether you received anything of value.5Internal Revenue Service. Charitable Contributions: Written Acknowledgments

Casualty and Theft Losses (Line 20)

Federally, personal casualty and theft losses are only deductible if they result from a federally declared disaster.6Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 515, Casualty, Disaster, and Theft Losses New York does not follow that restriction. The state uses the federal casualty and theft rules that were in effect for tax year 2017, before the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act narrowed the deduction.4Department of Taxation and Finance. Instructions for Form IT-196 New York Resident, Nonresident, and Part-Year Resident Itemized Deductions Under those older rules, personal casualty losses were deductible more broadly, subject to a $100-per-event threshold and a 10% AGI floor.

Line 20 handles losses other than federal qualified disaster losses, which go on line 37. The IT-196 instructions include worksheets for the computation. A fire, storm, or theft loss you assumed was nondeductible under current IRS rules is worth running through those worksheets.

Job Expenses and Miscellaneous Deductions (Lines 21–28)

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act eliminated the federal deduction for unreimbursed employee business expenses and most miscellaneous itemized deductions through 2025. New York never adopted that change.4Department of Taxation and Finance. Instructions for Form IT-196 New York Resident, Nonresident, and Part-Year Resident Itemized Deductions The categories:

  • Line 21: unreimbursed employee expenses (job travel, union dues, required uniforms, tools), calculated on the form’s separate worksheet
  • Line 22: job-related education expenses
  • Line 23: tax preparation fees
  • Line 24: other expenses such as investment advisory fees and safe deposit box costs

Total lines 21 through 24 on line 25. Subtract 2% of your federal AGI (lines 26–27). Only the excess goes on line 28. For filers with significant unreimbursed work expenses or investment fees, this section alone can make itemizing pay off for New York even when it doesn’t federally.

Other Itemized Deductions (Lines 29–39)

Line 29 is the most commonly used slot in this section: gambling losses, deductible up to the amount of your gambling winnings for the year using the 2017 federal rules. Report the full winnings as income and claim the offsetting losses here; netting is not permitted.7New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Instructions for Form IT-196 If you filed federal Form 1040-NR as a nonresident alien, you cannot claim this deduction.

Lines 30 through 38 cover less common items: casualty losses on income-producing property, federal estate tax on income in respect of a decedent, amortizable bond premiums, losses from contingent payment debt instruments, repayments over $3,000 under a claim of right, unrecovered pension investments, impairment-related work expenses, federal qualified disaster losses, and itemized deductions passed through from partnerships.1New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. New York Resident, Nonresident, and Part-Year Resident Itemized Deductions IT-196 Total everything on line 39.

New York Adjustments (Lines 41–45)

Line 40 sums the raw itemized total. Lines 41 through 45 reshape it under state rules.

Subtraction Adjustments (Line 41)

Remove amounts that were deductible federally but not by New York. The largest item is state and local income taxes (or general sales tax) from line 5, plus foreign income taxes included on line 8. Total the applicable subtraction amounts on line 41 and subtract from line 40, entering the result on line 42.4Department of Taxation and Finance. Instructions for Form IT-196 New York Resident, Nonresident, and Part-Year Resident Itemized Deductions

Addition Adjustments (Line 44)

Add back amounts not deductible under the Internal Revenue Code but allowed by New York. The instructions list the specific items. Enter the addition adjustments on line 44 and combine with line 42 (plus line 43, the college tuition deduction for IT-203 filers) to get line 45.

High-Income Deduction Reduction (Lines 46–47)

New York reduces itemized deductions for filers above certain income levels, based on New York adjusted gross income (NYAGI):7New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Instructions for Form IT-196

  • $100,000 or less: no reduction; skip line 46.
  • $100,001 to $475,000: complete Worksheet 3 in the instructions. The reduction scales up to 25% of line 45, based on how far income exceeds the starting threshold for your filing status ($100,000 for single or married filing separately, $150,000 for head of household, $200,000 for married filing jointly or qualifying surviving spouse).
  • $475,001 to $525,000: complete Worksheet 4. The reduction runs from 25% to 50% of line 45.
  • $525,001 to $1,000,000: flat 50% of line 45.
  • Over $1,000,000 to $10,000,000: skip line 46; on line 47 enter 50% of line 19 (charitable contributions).
  • Over $10,000,000: enter 25% of line 19.

For filers above $1,000,000, charitable contributions become the only surviving deduction category. Line 47 holds your deduction after this adjustment.

College Tuition Deduction (Lines 43 and 48)

New York offers a separate itemized deduction for qualifying college tuition, up to $10,000 per eligible student. Qualifying expenses are tuition minus scholarships and grant aid; fees, books, supplies, room and board, and transportation don’t count.8New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. College Tuition Credit or Itemized Deduction

Complete Form IT-272 first, then transfer the result to IT-196. Full-year residents (IT-201) enter it on line 48; IT-203 filers use line 43.4Department of Taxation and Finance. Instructions for Form IT-196 New York Resident, Nonresident, and Part-Year Resident Itemized Deductions You can claim either the college tuition credit (capped at $400 per student, full-year residents only) or the deduction, not both.

The Final Comparison (Line 49)

Line 49 compares your final itemized amount to the New York standard deduction for your filing status. Enter the larger figure on your return: line 34 of Form IT-201 for residents, line 33 of Form IT-203 for nonresidents and part-year residents.4Department of Taxation and Finance. Instructions for Form IT-196 New York Resident, Nonresident, and Part-Year Resident Itemized Deductions If the standard deduction wins, you don’t submit IT-196 with the return. Nonresidents and part-year residents have one more step: the deduction gets prorated based on the ratio of New York source income to total federal income. That allocation happens on IT-203, not on IT-196.

Filing and Recordkeeping

File IT-196 as an attachment to your IT-201 or IT-203; it uses the same deadline as the return. Keep supporting records: your federal Schedule A (or the “as if” version), Forms 1098 for mortgage interest, property tax bills, medical receipts, and written acknowledgments for charitable contributions of $250 or more.9Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 506, Charitable Contributions For job expenses, keep reimbursement records, mileage logs, and documentation of what your employer didn’t cover. Without substantiation, the Department of Taxation and Finance will disallow the deductions on audit.

Correcting a Mistake After Filing

If you find an error, file Form IT-201-X (Amended Resident Income Tax Return). Write “Amended” across the top of the corrected IT-196 and submit it with the IT-201-X. Even if the change is on another form, resubmit IT-196 with the amended return; leaving it out causes the Tax Department to disallow the deductions claimed on the missing form.10New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Instructions for Form IT-201-X Amended Resident Income Tax Return Always include every supporting form when amending, whether or not you changed it.