Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Know About Federal Tax Deductions

By Mark Peter

It is a responsibility of every law-abiding citizen to pay taxes. This enables the government to run the operations and services to its citizens. Even biblically, the famous "Give Caesars what is due" justifies the need to pay taxes as it has been a long time culture that has been practiced by many governments. Therefore, it is important to understand the processes and the amount that is supposed to be paid to tax authorities as tax deductions.

Ideally, a tax deduction is an expense on you as the taxpayer, which can be later claimed to lower the total amount of tax to be paid. It is subtracted from your gross income thus lowering your taxable income. It is therefore important that you have information on what you can claim for and what you can not claim for while filing for returns. They say information is power and once you know deductions that you can claim for, you can very much ease your tax burden.

For example did you know that you can donate your used car as a means of easing your tax burden? There are numerous qualified charities across the country that you can donate your car and qualify for the car donation tax deduction, equalling the exact value of that car in the market. Other ways that can help you claim deductions is by itemizing some of the following.

Home mortgage and home equity loan deductions. This works by deducting the total amount of interest paid on the mortgage or equity during a particular year. You can also get a deduction on your medical expenses in a given year if it is exceeding 7.5% of your Adjusted Gross Income [AGI].

If you fall victim to casualty or theft loss, your can deduct your total loss expenses less the insurance payments and use that to claim for a federal deduction. You can also file for deduction pegging your claim on the payment of state and other local taxes.

For high flyers, any time they sit down for a business lunch or breakfast, especially if you are always on the road, warrants a deduction. This also applies to truck drivers and heavy machine operators.

So with economy hammering us on every side, you might want to consider a deduction on your tax as a welcome reprieve by filing and claiming for some of these deductions

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