Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Tax Deduction Checklist for you

By Mark Peter

Most people do not like the idea of having some money deducted from their income whether they earn a lot or not but taxes are something we cannot avoid. It gets even more uncomfortable when you have to calculate just how much you have to part with. Whether it is for medical care, mortgage or anything else you really do not want to know how much the internal revenue service -IRS takes from you.

Several tax related softwares are available that can assist you in managing your tax deductions that you claim to the Internal Revenue Services. One of the most prominent tax software is tax deduction calculator. It provides a simple list of queries that you are supposed to answer based on your taxation laws that you apply. Alternatively, having a tax deduction checklist can equally work as a guideline.

Donations: Make sure that you document all the contributions that you make to charitable organizations to prevent causing problems at the end of the financial year when filing your claims. This will also be useful in letting you know just how much you are spending.

Student Loan interest: Some of us who went to college acquired a student loan to make ends meet in college and as soon as the taxpayer hammer starts pounding away at your salary with monthly deductions, then you need to start jotting down the amounts and make sure that they get cleared and no extra charges are added.

House payments: Before taking out a mortgage, know all the charges and payments that you are supposed to make. Once the deductions start to be made from your income, ensure that you keep the paperwork as proof of the payments made.

Medical insurance or health payments: Health related tax deductions do not usually have many complexities as compared other deductions. Mostly if you are covered by insurance bodies, then it becomes easier to handle as all the processes that are involved are handled by the insurance body. The procedures involved may be finding out the nature of health cover, computing the deductible amount and submitting it to the taxman.

Spousal charges: If you happen to get married within a year, it is always good to file the claims after noting down how much relief or exemption you get compared to being single. It is always advisable to do a joint filing with your spouse so as to save the two of you from paying extra tax.

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