[bluGill]

Though if you are in the US odds are you don't need this tax deduction anyway. Few people understand how US taxes work and so give their accountant all their deductions because they know tax deductions exist. They don't realize that the standard deduction applies and they don't/can't deduct anything.

(if you do apply deductions then this matters)

[BeetleB]

Before the SALT cap of $10K, it could easily matter. Prior to the cap, I itemized deductions every year - easy if you have a mortgage, live in a high income tax state, and both spouses work. In those days the standard deduction was $12K, and just our state taxes exceeded that amount - forget about mortgage + charity.

Even after the SALT cap, on some years itemizing was better.

And I believe as of next year (or the one after?), the SALT cap is going up significantly. Back to itemizing every year.