Tax Deductible Items

Tax deductions are a great way to save money on regular purchases within certain categories. The standard deduction alone saved some 85 million American’s a little over 0.5 trillion dollars in 2009. But the real way to claim deductions is by filing a Schedule A along with your 1040 long form. Categories of deductions available on the Schedule A include Medical, Taxes, Charity, Education, Mortgage and Causalities.

Deductions for Medical Expenses: Medical expenses are deductible on your tax return once you clear a certain level of your income in expenses, 7.5%. For this reason it is a good ideal to group major medical procedure in the same year to allow for them to be deductible. Items such as doctor’s bills, hospital visits, operations, prescriptions, premiums, and health care for dependents are deductible.

Taxes for State and Local: The state and the local government in your area collects income taxes, that’s the bad news. The good news is that the Federal government allows to deduct these tax expenses. Check the IRS website for a list of local and state taxes that you can deduct as not all taxes are deductible. TurboTax also is a good resource for what taxes you can deduct when preparing your tax return.

Charity Donations: Donations to charitable organizations, such as churches, are deductible without limit. When you provide transportation for a charitable event you can deduct the mileage. And when you purchase a ticket to a charitable event that is more expensive than the value of the service or entertainment provided, you can deduct the difference. Keep records of all your gifts.

Education Expenses: The federal government wants to support education and therefore gives tax deductions for expenses incurred while obtaining education degrees. The rules have changed recently with ARRA (the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) but generally provides $2,500 per student in deductions for education.