Do you own a home or real property of some sort? If so, you have to pay a local government (usually a county) real estate taxes on that property every year. Sometimes you pay twice a year, other times annually and if you have your taxes impounded with your mortgage, you pay monthly and the deductible amount is given to you along with your form 1098 mortgage interest statement.Here is a link to IRS Publication 17 – click on ‘Real Estate’ and it will give you more information.http://www.irs.gov/publications/p17/ch22.html#en_US_2011_publink1000173165If you have questions call me at 818-317-6035 or email me at bstonercpa@sbcglobal.net and we can discuss it.Tomorrow I will discuss personal property tax deductions, like cars and trucks, boats and airplanes. You can count on us to count for you!
Brian’s Tax Musings
One tax deduction youcan sometimes take as an itemized deduction is sales tax. The IRS has a table you can use or you can calculate your actual sales tax paid for the year (you thought you had to keep receipts before? Good luck.)The only problem is you can take the larger of your sales tax deduction or your state income taxes paid – it is an either/or situaltion; you can’t take both. State income taxes paid includes any local income taxes (in CA, state disability insurance is considered a state tax). You add them both up and take the higher of the two: the other goes into the black hole of undeductible items (where that second sock in your drawer went to.)That is the only possible reason to wade through your receipts to calculate sales tax – you may get a bigger deduction than the table and may result in some tax savings. Any questions, call me at 818-317-6035 or email me at bstonercpa@sbcglobal.net and I will try to answer them.Tomorrow I will talk about real estate taxes.You can count on us to count for you!
Brian’s Tax Musings
First let’s talk a little about medical mileage. This is any mileage taken for medical purposes (doctor visits, drug store to pick up medication, hospital and testing, etc. ) For 2011 the mileage rates are as follows:Jan – June 19 Cents a Mile; July – December 23.5 Cents a Mile. (IRS figured it was more espensive to run a car after all.)Obviously all Doctor, Dentist and Nursing items should be deductible. Also nursing home and stay at home nursing care will be partly or completely deductible (check with the facility to find out what they consider deductible.) Prescription medication is also deductible.Other frequently overlooked items are in this article by Kay Bell at Bankrate.com. See the link below:http://www.bankrate.com/finance/money-guides/maximizing-your-medical-deductions-1.aspxIf you have any other questions on medical, call me at 818-317-6035 or email me at bstonercpa@sbcglobal.net and I will try to answer them.Next I will talk about what taxes are deductible on your return.You can count on us to count for you!