Our tax system would have a pretty hard time being more complex. If you are like most Americans, you hear terms like tax deductions, tax credit, adjusted gross income and you want to know more, but you never really do any research. It is not until you really need to know what a tax term means that you finally pay attention and figure it out. What if you found out that you may be paying more taxes because these terms? Would you want to know more? I thought so.
Let’s start with the basics. A tax deduction is something that lowers your tax liability. In other words, a deduction allows you to take some amount of your income for the year and not have to pay taxes on it. If you paid taxes on 30% of your income, a deduction of $1000 saves you that 30% you would have paid or $300. Tax deductions are often confused with tax credits. A credit comes straight off of the taxes you pay. So rather than saving 30% of your money, you save 100% of that money.
A tax deduction helps you lower your adjusted gross income. To define adjusted gross income, it is simply the amount of income you have after you have subtracted all of your deductions. Why does this matter? Your tax bracket is determined by your adjusted gross income and not your total income. The more deductions you have, the lower your adjusted gross income will be, and the lower tax bracket in which you will be. Tax brackets are important because the higher bracket you are in, the higher percentage of taxes you will pay.
Let’s work through an example. The 2008 federal tax brackets say that taxpayers filing with a status of single will pay 10% on all income between $0 and $8,025. They will pay 15% on all income between $8,025 and $32,550. If they fall into the 15% tax bracket, they will also pay the 10% on the $8,025. For our example, we will say that Mike makes $20,025. Taking no deductions into account, Mike would pay his 10% for the first bracket or $802.50. Mike would also pay 15% on the rest (20,025 – 8,025) * 15% = $1800. Add those together and Mike pays $2602.50 in taxes. Ouch! Deductions would have helped Mike. Here is how.
Mike owns his house. He pays a mortgage. One tax deduction available to homeowners is that all interest paid on the mortgage is tax deductible. You can see that in order for Mike to get into the lower tax bracket completely, he would need $12,000 in deductions. However, every dollar of tax deduction he does have is less he pays at the higher 15%. If Mike paid $6,000 in mortgage interest last year, he can deduct that and bring his adjusted gross income down to $14,025. Now the amount he pays at 15% is (14,025 – 8,025) or $6,000 instead of $12,000. He pays $900 instead of $1800. He saved $900 in taxes! If Mike would have paid that $6,000 in rent instead of to a mortgage, he would have paid Uncle Sam $900 extra dollars.
Some common places to watch out for tax deductions or other items that lower your adjusted gross income are 401K plans at work, charitable contributions, child-care costs, vehicle license tax, interest on first and second mortgages, losses on investments, interest paid on student loans, property taxes and contributions to IRAs.
Using tools such as TurboTax and TaxAct will help you make sure you don’t miss out on any tax deduction to which you are entitled. Click here to file your federal return for FREE.
Don’t forget April 15th is the deadline!
Ken Rios is a contributor to IncomeTaxes1040.com, a site
dedicated to helping you grow your tax knowledge. For more articles and information on taxes
please visit IncomeTaxes1040.com.
When an individual files their tax returns each year they are able to claim a number of tax deductions. Many times a tax deduction can reduce the amount of money that is owed to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or it can create a larger tax refund. The most commonly used tax deduction is the standard tax deduction; however, there are number of other tax deductions that many individuals fail to claim or even consider. Frequently overlooked tax deductions can prevent a taxpayer from getting additional money that they deserve.
Claiming a number of tax deductions often requires receipts or other documentation. For this reason there are many individuals who may be unable to claim some of these frequently overlooked tax deductions on this years tax return. To prevent yourself from losing even more money next year taxpayers are encouraged to spend the whole year preparing for tax season and tax deductions.
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One of the most frequently overlooked tax deductions is that of medical expenses. To claim a medical expense deduction the medical expenses must be at least seven and half percent of a taxpayers income. While this may seem like a large amount of money there are some individuals who will definitely qualify for this tax deduction. Families with a large number of children often qualify for this deduction because the total cost of healthcare for multiple children is often high. Taxpayers who recently had a child or were diagnosed with a life threatening illness are likely to meet the deduction requirements due to do multiple checkups and hospital visits.
There are a number of taxpayers who carefully keep track of the amount of money or items that they donate to charities; however, the majority of taxpayers do not which makes charitable donations another frequently overlooked tax deduction. Individuals who donated money, clothing, or household items are able to claim a tax deduction as long as the charity is approved by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The majority of most well known charities are approved; however, individuals can obtain a full list by visiting the website of the Internal Revue Service (IRS) which can be found at http://www.irs.gov.
Unfortunately there are a number of taxpayers who will qualify for a natural disaster tax deduction. With the recently active 2005 hurricane season and the dreadful predictions of more to come it is likely that a large number of individuals will qualify for a natural disaster tax deduction. This deduction is used to make up for the amount of property damage that was not covered by homeowners insurance. To qualify for a natural disaster tax deduction the property loss must be at least ten percent of an taxpayers income. It is sad to say, but with the majority of tornadoes, hurricanes, and floods is it not uncommon for a home to be completely destroyed which would allow the tax deduction to be claimed.
With many businesses declaring bankruptcy or laying off their workers there is an increased number of individuals looking for a job. Another one of the most frequently overlooked tax deductions is that of expenses related to a job search. Many job seeker know how expensive looking for a new job can be. It is possible for job seekers to claim tax deductions on their phone expenses that are related to a job search. These phone expenses may include long distance telephone calls to set up an interview or even over the phone interviews. In addition to phone expenses job seekers can also claim the mileage of going to and from a job interview. Other job search deductions may include the cost of having a resume professionally prepared and the costs of mailing or faxing out that resume.
Additional frequently overlooked tax deductions include the amount of money spent on sales tax, tax preparation, gambling losses, property taxes, and more. The best way to become aware about the most frequently overlooked tax deductions is by using a tax software program to prepare your taxes or hiring the services of a professional tax preparer. These are great ways to become aware of commonly overlooked tax deductions and to determine if you qualify for them.
Gray Rollins is a featured writer for the TaxHelpDirectory.com. To learn more about Tax Deductions, and other tax tips, please visit our site.
Tax deductions are not the top priority for most individual real estate investors. They often work out of their home with no employees, other than those on-site at the property. Challenges (aside from tax deductions) include selecting what property to purchase, screening tenants, repairs, managing expenses, obtaining financing, and deciding when to sell. This articles addresses tax deductions sometimes over-looked by real estate owners. Tax deductions reduce taxable income but do not directly reduce taxes. For example, $10,000 in additional tax deductions will generate $3,500 in federal income tax savings ($10,000 X 35%), assuming a 35% federal income tax rate. Since most tax deductions require a cash expenditure, increasing actual expenses to increase tax deductions is not desirable. Let’s review fine-tuning the depreciation schedule and reclassifying existing expenditures to increase tax deductions. Real estate depreciation is a potent but underutilized source of tax deductions. Real estate depreciation schedules are commonly established by just separating land from the improvements. This is analogous to asking a world-class pianist to play a piano which is not tuned and has several keys which are not functioning. The results are just not as good as they should be. Congress has provided depreciation as a tax deduction to encourage real estate ownership and investment. Numerous court decisions have provided clear guidance for accurately and precisely depreciating real estate. Cost segregation can typically increase real estate depreciation by 50-100% in the first 5-7 years of ownership. Owners can claim a tax deduction windfall for properties owned more than one year by “catching-up” previously under-reported depreciation. After obtaining a cost segregation report, you can “catch-up” depreciation without filing any amended tax returns. Another meaningful source of tax deductions is to scrutinize any cash expenditures which are being capitalized. Have minor repairs been capitalized in error? Are there more significant repairs which do not clearly extend the life of a component? Discussing these items with your accountant can yield additional tax deductions. Also review items which were capitalized in prior years; can you claim any of them as current year tax deductions? Child labor can be good when they are your children and you claim a tax deduction. Consult your accountant or CPA but this can generate additional tax deductions of $5,000 per child, upon which they pay no taxes. (If they are feeling generous, they may return the money as a tax-free gift.) A tax-deductible vacation is an attractive option to make an expenditure deductible. Simply plan a vacation around a business trip for a meeting or seminar. Your airfare and hotel for the business period are deductible. Hotel before or after the business activity and your spouse’s airfare (assuming that your spouse is not involved in business) are not deductible. Half of meals during period with business activity are deductible. Reviewing personal expenditures can generate additional tax deductions. Items used for business such as computer, printer, office supplies, seminars, association dues, and business publications can be deducted. Long distance business phone calls can also be deducted. Self-employed persons can deduct the entire cost of health insurance premiums. Record keeping for tax deductions does take a modest effort. However, the federal income tax savings make it worth the effort. Cost segregation produces tax deductions and reduces federal income taxes across the country and in every size market. Below are just a few examples of cities where cost segregation generates meaningful tax deductions. City:
Las Vegas, NV
Boston, MA
Tampa, FL
Hartford, CT
San Francisco, CA
Memphis, TN
Miami, FL
Denver, CO
Phoenix, AZ
Orlando, FL
Boise, ID
Chicago, IL
El Paso, TX
Oxnard, CA
Rochester, NY
Cincinnati, OH
Jackson, MS
San Jose, CA
Fresno, CA
Charleston, SC
Omaha, NE
Oklahoma City, OK
Buffalo, NY
Albuquerque, NM
San Antonio, TX
Charlotte, NC
Allentown, PA
Austin, TX
Baton Rouge, LA
Jacksonville, TN Cost segregation produces tax deductions for virtually all property types, including the following: Property Type:
Used car lot
Research and development
Nursing home
Lumber storage
Truck stop
Tennis club
Hospital
School
Movie theatre
Lodging Almost every industry, including the following, can generate cost-efficient tax deductions by using cost segregation. Industry:
Golf courses and country clubs
Textile product mills
Nondurable good wholesalers
Durable good wholesalers
Real estate lesser
Electrical component manufacturing
Textile mills
Laundry facilities
Automotive parts distributors
Plastic and rubber products manufacturing
O’Connor & Associates is a national provider of investment real estate consulting services including commercial real estate appraisals, tax deductions, cost segregation, property tax appeals, due diligence, and insurance valuations.
Appraisal services are provided for all commercial property types including nursing homes, discount stores, truck terminals, tennis clubs, supermarkets, country clubs, medical offices, mini-warehouses, restaurants, vacant lands, skating rinks, community shopping, centers, power centers, car wash facilities and service stations.
