H&R Block Deduction Pro ®
YOUR DEDUCTIONS
Show Me The Money: 10 Most Common Overlooked Deductions
On average, taxpayers overpay their taxes each year by about $400 per return due to missed tax breaks and savings incentives. Here are some of the most common overlooked deductions:
ITEMIZED DEDUCTIONS:
- 1. Medical expenses - in addition to what you've spent on doctors, hospitals, and medicine, other possibilities are health insurance premiums, prescription eyeglasses and contacts, hearing aids, medical transportation, equipment for handicapped people, and nursing home expenses.
- 2. State and local income taxes and personal property taxes.
- 3. Charitable contributions - cash and property donated to charitable organizations, including household items donated to charities.
- 4. Out-of-pocket job expenses that were not reimbursed by your employer, including non-commuting car expenses, travel expenses, uniforms, union dues, and continuing education expenses.
ABOVE-THE-LINE DEDUCTIONS
Properly called adjustments to gross income, these deductions are available whether or not you itemize. The traditional IRA is one of the best known of these. But you may also be eligible to deduct:
- 5. Student loan interest - up to $2,500.
- 6. Tuition and fees - up to $4,000 of qualified higher education expenses.
- 7. Moving expenses - the cost of moving you, your family, and your belongings (including your pets) to a new job location.
- 8. Military reservists deduction - for non-reimbursable travel expenses for reservists reporting to National Guard or military reserve duty at least 100 miles from home.
- 9. Deductions for the self-employed: one half of self-employment (social security) taxes; 100% of self-employed health insurance premiums; contributions to self-employed retirement plans (SEPs, SIMPLEs, etc.).
- 10. Alimony - the alimony you pay to a former spouse is deductible; child support is not.