Six Expenses You Need To Make Sure You're Deducting On Your Tax Return
You can cost yourself thousands of dollars in taxes if you neglect to deduct expenses that you could list on your tax return.
It's best to rely on professional income tax preparation services to ensure that you don't miss out on deducting any of these big expenses and enjoying the resulting decrease in your tax liability.
The following are six expenses you need to make sure you're deducting on your tax return:
1. Any losses you've taken from gambling
If you've taken gambling losses from casino games or even lottery tickets, you may be able to deduct these losses. However, you need to be aware of the fact that you can only deduct losses to offset any wins you've had.
Nevertheless, deducting gambling losses can be extremely helpful if you are a regular gambler and you have had some significant wins over the past year.
2. Insurance premiums you've paid to qualify you for your mortgage loan
If you have to pay mortgage insurance premiums for a mortgage loan you have out on a property, remember that you can deduct these premiums under the mortgage interest deduction. This deduction can be a huge asset to a homeowner paying for a mortgage loan.
3. Charitable donations
The IRS allows taxpayers to deduct charitable donations. However, it's important to be aware of the fact that you can only deduct as much as 50 percent from your adjusted gross income through charitable donations. In some cases, this number may be reduced to 20 percent or 30 percent depending on factors such as the income level of the taxpayer.
4. Costs of medical and dental care
It's possible that you can deduct any medical or dental expenses that you've paid over the past year. If expenses are unreimbursed and they add up to more than a certain percentage of your income, you can deduct them.
5. Alimony payments
While child support payments are not deductible, alimony payments are. If you have paid alimony to an ex-spouse, make sure you let your tax preparer know so that this expense gets listed on your return.
6. Fees you've paid for tax preparation services from the previous year
It's always possible to deduct income tax preparation service fees from a previous year. Tax preparation fees can be considerably high for a complicated return, so make sure you take this deduction into account on your return and let your preparer know if you paid for professional preparation services last year.
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