Proudly made in the USA, and other Tax Savings you get without Itemizing
It isn't so much that people mind the money they lose to the government as taxes. It is the hoops they have to jump through to do it, what with all the forms, the calculations the tax codes, and the itemizing for every single deduction. Well, the IRS allows certain people, people who come under certain categories, to file their returns and not have to itemize or mess about with deduction phaseouts and the like. Form 1040 lists more than 20 kinds of expenses that you can claim tax deductions on, without proving or itemizing anything - if, that is, you happen to be a teacher, a divorcee or someone who answers to about two dozen different descriptions.
People, fondly remembering how you list them on Form 1040 just above the bottom line on the first page - and so, call them above-the-line deductions . So what are these deductions that you're allowed to put down without itemizing and come away with your tax savings? Well here they are:
1. A health savings account reminds everyone a lot of an IRA. People sock money away in it, and as it grows, you can make withdrawals from it, for any kind of medical expenses that you don't get reimbursements for under your high deductible medical cover. The contributions you make to them count.
2. If you are moving, because your job is moving, you can get your tax savings on the moving expenses, provided you jump through the hoop otherwise known as Form 3903.
3. If you spent your life working for yourself, and you bought your own pension plan, something like an SEP IRA, any contributions you make to it, count against your tax savings, and you don't have to itemize.
4. Among the most hated payments we make, alimony payments, and student loan interest, have to feature somewhere near the top. With alimony, you need to make sure that you put down on line 31, the Social Security number and tax ID of your ex-spouse, so that the IRS can cross check with them that the payments were made. And $2500 out of whatever student loan interest you paid, can be subtracted too.
5. A really good one, are the fees you pay for higher education. After you put this down on a line 34, you just need to grab yourself a form 8917, and you're done. And of course, there is the tax saving you make manufacturing goods that are "Proudly made in the USA". You get a tax break of 50% of whatever you pay your employees.
And if you have to make sure you have all the bases covered, here are a few for your personal collection. If you spent money on an unlawful discrimination lawsuit, your court costs all count. If you were paid anything for jury duty but had to give it up to your boss because he's paying you for your time too, here is where you get a little tax savings out of it. And finally, if you don't really need to use the Form 1040, you can still get your due on Form 1040A. This one has spaces for tax savings of this kind too.