If Louis itemizes his deductions on Form 1040 and Carmella is also married filing separately, what can she do?

When a taxpayer is married filing separately and their spouse itemizes deductions, the taxpayer is not allowed to take the standard deduction; instead, they must also itemize their deductions if they want to claim any deductions at all. This is because the tax rules stipulate that if one spouse chooses to itemize, the other spouse must also itemize, regardless of the amount of their deductions.

In this scenario, since Louis is itemizing his deductions, Carmella has the option to itemize her deductions as well. This means she can tally up her eligible expenses such as medical expenses, state and local taxes, mortgage interest, and charitable contributions to calculate her total itemized deductions. Thus, choosing to itemize is the only valid option for her given that Louis has already chosen to itemize.

This condition emphasizes the requirement for married couples filing separately to maintain consistency in their filing methods regarding deductions. Therefore, the correct response reflects that she can indeed itemize her deductions.