Why Form 8655 Deductions 2024

Hey, so here in the good old US of A, it's the most wonderful time of the year, said the government. It's tax season, everybody! Nobody loves to pay taxes, but there are ways to lessen the pain. So here are 11 surprising tax deductions that you're probably not using. First off, a quick overview. Most tax deductions are available only when you itemize. The IRS gives you a standard deduction of $6,300. But if you have qualifying deductions over and above that amount, it's definitely worth itemizing to save yourself some money come tax season. Number one, health insurance premiums. This one is mostly for the self-employed. If you're self-employed and responsible for your own health care costs, then you can deduct 100% of your monthly premium. Ditto to the cost of prescriptions, co-pays, etc. Number two, self-employed social security taxes. Alas, if you're self-employed, you do have to pay 15.3% of your income to Social Security taxes. This includes the 7.65% that your employer would usually pay and the 7.65% that you would have to pay if you were employed with the traditional employer. However, you can write off the 7.65% that your employer would usually pay. So every cloud! Number three, charity beyond cash donations. Now, as you may already know, you can deduct the cash that you donate to charities. But did you know that you can also deduct charitable work? For instance, let's say you do some baking for a charity fundraising dinner. You can deduct the cost of the ingredients. And what about the traveling you did for that fundraiser? You can deduct the cost of the gas and the oil. Same thing goes if you had to hire a babysitter to go to that dinner. Tax deductible! Number four, teachers' classroom supplies. With school budgets strapped, it's not...