Tax Time . . . .

[Homunculus]

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it's getting near that time again.

for the first time my wife an I have deductions. here's what i plan on deducting

mortgage interest
wife's loan interest
garage donation to salvation army
the kiddo

any other common deductions you all use? anything specific to buying a house other than the interest you pay on your mortgage?

thanks in advance

--your friendly neighborhood keeping it from Uncle Sam caevman

 

[Geronimo]

it's getting near that time again.

for the first time my wife an I have deductions. here's what i plan on deducting

mortgage interest
wife's loan interest
garage donation to salvation army
the kiddo

any other common deductions you all use? anything specific to buying a house other than the interest you pay on your mortgage?

thanks in advance

--your friendly neighborhood keeping it from Uncle Sam caevman

If you bought a house in 2004, take your closing papers with you to a tax advisor. They can deduct things like "points paid" in some cases. If your health costs were over 7.5% of your income, you can deduct stuff like that. Anything else related to charity (donations to churches, etc..., volunteer mileage or costs). The list can be endless. If you are in a state with no income tax, your sales tax can be deducted. Otherwise, you can deduct state income tax paid. Those are just a few.

 

[mpp]

If you are just out of school, don't forget the lifetime learning credit (20% credit of the first $10,000 in educational expenses).

You can deduct interest paid on student loans or principal payments that include capitalized interest on student loans.

A tax warning regarding loan consolidation...if you include in your consolidation a loan that was not used for eligible school expenses (tuition, room, board, expenses like books, equipment, etc.) then the interest on the entire loan (including the studen loan part) is no longer tax deductible. So, do NOT consolidate loans that you took out to pay for things like residency interview expenses, relocation expenses, etc. with your student loans. As you get out in the real world and make real money, that student loan interest deduction will be worth a lot to you and you don't want to screw it up by consolidating with non-student loans.

 

[mpp]

If you don't have a Roth-IRA you can deduct up to $3,000 each for you and your spouse for contributions to a traditional IRA.