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Hi. Do you spend a lot of money and wonder if you can use that to your advantage? I know
I do. I'm Kristen Brand, and I'm going to show you what kinds of things you spend money
on that you can take as a federal deduction on your tax return. The first place to look
is actually in the form itself. If you can pull some of these forms out, the first place
to look is on the form 1040, schedule A. This will give you a list of items that are actually
tax deductible. One of the first on the list is medical and dental expenses. So the most
things that you spend at the dentist or at the doctor's office will be tax deductible,
including the mileage to and from these places. One of the other items is taxes that you pay.
So, for instance, if you pay taxes on property taxes for your house, or if you pay sales
tax on the items that you buy, or state taxes on the wages that you make in certain states,
these are items that you can list here as a federal deduction. A couple of other areas
are interest that you pay, perhaps on the mortgage of your primary residence, or gifts
that you make to charity. Job expenses can also be deductible in certain cases. So if
you're required to have a cell phone, or have internet service in your home, or any number
of things that you're not reimbursed for by your boss, you can list these items here as
a federal deduction. I'm Kristen Brand, and that's how to take a federal tax deduction.