Saturday, 21 January 2012

Is Itemizing Ideal For Tax Returns?

By Richard Horowitz


When you prepare your taxes, you should decide whether you should itemize your deductions or take the standard deduction that the IRS provides.

So many choices to make.

Tax deductions are actually a very simple part of the tax reporting system. If you prepare your own taxes, then you know this isn't true. Complicated tax forms can be a nightmare to fill out. The IRS enables you to take a standard deduction instead of having to itemize your deductions. So what do you think you should do?

The standard deduction is very easy because there is no calculation or supporting documentation needed. You just have to figure out your adjusted gross income and submit the amount for your classification. The amount would differ, depending on whether you are filing as single, married, older than 65, or have children.

There are many people who would not like the idea of taking the standard deduction. Deciding this is hard. This is a good choice for those people with simple financial lives. This is your best choice if you make about $45,000 as an employee, rent a house, and don't have any major medical bills or losses. The bad thing is, you're never sure until you give itemizing your deductions a try.

Itemizing deductions involve just that. You must go through all your records and categorize the deductions. These deductions are then subtracted from your adjusted gross income to get a final figure from which tax is determined using the tax tables. It's best to itemize if you have many tax deductions or tax credits. You could itemize it if you own a home. You would choose to itemize if you own a house, have significant medical bills, can claim tax credit, or have major losses. Obviously, there are other situations where itemizing makes sense, but this gives you an idea of the situation.

The standard deduction is good for you if you have a simple financial situation. If life is a bit more complicated, itemizing is probably going to save you more on your tax bill.




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