Thursday, December 18, 2008

Where Should I Go to Find Out the IRS Deductions I Should Claim?

By Richard Darrington

Almost everybody needs to file a tax return. IRS deductions will help taxpayers lower their tax bills. The more you know about IRS deductions, the easier it is to claim the right deductions and save on taxes. Unfortunately, most people are confused by the tax laws and complicated rules set by the IRS. Therefore, many people are not claiming all the tax deductions that they are entitled to.

The first thing to know about IRS deductions is that there are primarily two kinds; standard deductions and itemized deductions. The standard deduction is easy to claim and you won't even have to provide any proofs of any expenses. However, itemize deductions have that had been advantages sometimes for some taxpayers.

When and taxpayer chooses to take the standard IRS deductions, he or she will just have to tick the box that says standard deduction on his or her tax return. By choosing the standard deduction, you don't have to prove anything and you do not have to keep your receipts as you would with itemize deductions. For most people, the standard deduction is quite high.

There are tax payers who are not eligible to take the standard IRS deductions. In this case, they should itemize any deductions they have. For example, if a tax payer is married and filing separate return but his or her spouse itemizes deductions, then he or she will not be able to take the standard deduction. Also, if you are filing a tax return for a short tax year, less than 12 months, then you may not be the to take the standard deduction.

There are tax payers who should itemize even though they are eligible to take the standard IRS deductions. If your total tax deductions are more than the standard deduction amount then by itemizing you will end up owing the IRS less. Most people would calculate how much they will have to pay in taxes if they itemize their deductions versus how much they would owe the IRS if they take the standard deduction. Then they choose the method that would give them the highest amount of tax deductions.

For almost all people, the standard IRS deductions amount is quite high unless they spent a lot of money on certain things that are eligible for tax deductions during the year. For example, people often itemize if they had large mortgages, paid interests and taxes or had uninsured medical expenses during the year. There are also other reasons such as large unreimbursed employee business expenses or a large uninsured casualty or theft losses. - 16955

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