HELP! Federal Taxes

[sweetalkr]

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I just did my taxes on turbotax, and my federal taxes are coming out to 875$ this year!
I am single, I rent, and I am currently a CA-2 that made 45K last year.
I used the standard deduction because I couldnt justify itemizing.. i didnt have more than 5500$ to itemize. Any suggestions to lower my tax burden?
Any help would be appreciated. I had planned on getting LASIK done and buying a suit for fellowship interviews... but now i can't

 

[proman]

Do you mean that you owe $875 on your taxes? Because on 45K your federal tax paid (through withholdings) is much much more.

 

[New2Midwest]

Get married, buy a house and have kids-that would all help. But, for the short term, any exam/license fees not covered by your residency program? Make any donations to Goodwill? It is tough when you have no dependents and no mortgage interest to deduct.

 

[sweetalkr]

Ya, the 875 is the total I owe in addition to what I paid during the year.

Everyone is suggesting "handing your stuff to H&R Block and handing over a bunch of receipts", so do you think it is worth it? Do they really know the legal loopholes well enough to get my taxes reduced??

 

[proman]

I have an accountant, someone I trust and someone who will defend me if I get audited (HR Block won't). You should read the 1040 publication on the IRS website to see what can ordinarily be deducted. As a resident there's not much if you're single, no kids and renting.

 

[periopdoc]

Don't hand your stuff to H&R Block, accountant, etc unless they guarantee that they will find a lower tax burden than you were already able to. Otherwise you are most likely just wasting money to have them prepare it. For a couple of years in med school I compared and I always had equal or better returns. The only time they helped was when I had to take a retirement distribution and I wasn't sure how spread the tax penalty over a four year period. (something that was only available for a short time when the Roth IRA was instituted)

Did you have any moving expenses last year?

- pod

 

[bullard]

Any interest paid on your med school loans? I took deductions on that but mortgage interest is what really helped.