No, as pointed out it's basically never right for anyone[1]. It doesn't cover huge deductions like mortgage interest, it doesn't include the EITC at all, which means that it's wildly overestimating tax liability at the bottom of the chart (where it's routinely negative for families with children).

Tax analysis is hard (and yes, that's a bug not a feature) and not well served by charts like this, nor by ridiculous labels like "fiscal cliff".

[1] With the exception that probably explains your comment: a single mid-income individual without dependents living in rental housing is going to pay pretty much what this chart shows. Obviously that covers a lot of the demographic here, but it's terrible advice for everyone else.

The standard deduction is the minimum deduction. A simple calculator indeed should take this into account since it will affect everyone's tax liability. A recent study showed only about 1/3 of tax returns used itemized deductions [1].

[1]: http://taxfoundation.org/article/most-americans-dont-itemize...

edit: good point on the EITC as well. This also severely affects the bottom of the scale and you don't need to itemize to take advantage of it.