But at what cost? It’s expensive to stay ahead of the electronics race. The running joke about the iPhone (and just about every other type of electronic device) is that “Your gadget is out of date the moment you buy it and walk out of the store.”

Spending all of this hard earned dough to remain king of the electronics mountaintop begs the question – Can I deduct my iPhone 5? Can I write off my new computer or my monthly cell phone service costs? What about my printer, ink cartridges, or any of my electronics . . . can I deduct those expenses from my taxable income?

The short answer is a resounding: Yes! But, as with everything tax related, you have to pay attention to the rules.

Writing Off Your iPhone 5 and Other Mobile Devices

Let’s stay out of the iPhone/Android debate for a moment. No matter which smartphone you’ve chosen, there are two things that every carrier demands; you have to buy a phone and you have to pay for service.

So how do you deduct these expenses? Well, you have to meet the basic criteria that the IRS puts forth when dealing with such issues:

1. you have to itemize your deductions, and
2. you have to use your phone for only your business or place of employment.

The standard deduction doesn’t not allow you to add on your mobile device costs. Sorry, but you’ll have to itemize if you want to deduct mobile device expenses.  TurboTax will help you figure whether you can itemize your deductions or take the standard tax deduction.  You don’t need to know which one to take.

If you’re self employed, you have the ability to deduct all of your cell phone expenses (initial purchase and monthly bill) as long as the phone is used for business purposes – exclusively.

If you aren’t self employed but your phone expenses are required by your employer and you don’t receive reimbursement, you also have the right to deduct all of your cell phone expenses from your taxable income.

Again, to deduct 100% of your cell phone costs, the IRS demands that the phone and service in question be used exclusively for business.

Personal and Business Use

If your phone doesn’t fall into the “exclusively for business” category, don’t worry, the IRS hasn’t completely forgotten about you.

If your new cell phone acts as both your business and personal phone, you are only allowed to deduct the portion used for business from your taxable income. It’s important for you to hang on to your itemized phone bill and receipts to ensure that you’re deducting the right amounts and to keep records of your deduction.

Deducting Other Business Assets

As it turns out, you are able to deduct much more than your cell phone costs. In the same way that you expense your costs from a business trip, the government also allows you to deduct electronics purchases as long as they’re reasonably necessary for your business.

Or as the IRS puts it, you are able to deduct depreciating expenses if those expenses help you to generate income.

Expenses that fit into this category range from new computers, printers, leased equipment, software, monitors, computer peripherals, and so on. Basically, anything that you deem necessary for your business or necessary for you to continue earning income can be deducted.

Just remember to save your receipts and keep good records.

If you did spring cleaning in 2012 you can also take advantage of this tax benefit and save on your 2012 taxes.  Let’s look at the types of items you might like to donate.

Household Goods such as furniture, appliances, etc, must be in ‘good used condition’ or better, and you must have a written acknowledgement from the charity for any donations of cash or property worth more than $250. Your old set of cutlery, cookware, or dishes may not seem valuable to you, but agencies helping people get off the street or away from an abusive relationship are looking for these things to set people up in a new apartment.

Used Clothing is also in strong demand in nearly every area of the country. Be careful not to over value it, keeping in mind that the IRS tells us “the price that buyers of used items actually pay in used clothing stores, such as consignment or thrift shops, is an indication of the value.” TurboTax ItsDeductible will help value your donated items.

If you plan to donate Jewelry or Gems to a qualified charity, perhaps to help them out at their annual auction, you should have a written appraisal from a specialized jewelry appraiser. The lucky guy or gal that bids on your treasure might have a donation of his or her own, but only to the extent their winning bid exceeded the appraised value of your donated jewelry.

Donations of art valued at over $5,000 must be supported by a written appraisal which you should keep with your records. If over $20,000, the IRS would like to see that appraisal attached to your return along with an 8 x 10 inch color picture of the donated art.

Cars and Boats are valued using pricing guides for private party sales, and should be reduced if the car has any damage or excess wear. If the donated car is sold by the charity, you can only deduct what the charity sold it for. What the charity does with the car may impact the deduction you can take, Publication 526 offers a comprehensive set of guidelines for how to value your deduction.

Stocks and Bonds can also be donated directly to charity and there’s a bit of a double bonus in doing so. Say you’ve owned a stock for a long time and its value is many times its original price. By donating the stock to a charity, you get the tax deduction, based on your marginal rate, but you also get to avoid the capital gain on those shares. For those who have significant donations they are making each year, this is a nice strategy to maximize your charitable giving.

I shouldn’t miss mentioning that The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (what congress passed to avoid the fiscal cliff) extended the Qualified Charitable Distribution for 2013. This means that if you are 70-1/2 or older and taking Required Minimum Distributions (RMD) from your IRA, you can direct the custodian, the bank or broker, to send funds directly to a charity of your choosing. It’s consider part of your RMD, but isn’t taxed. For those who don’t itemize, it has the effect of saving you the same on your taxes as if it were a deduction included on your return. Even if you do itemize, it may still provide a bit of a benefit by not appearing as adjusted gross income.

I hope these Spring Cleaning ideas can help make some room in your house and lighten your tax bill next year.  Don’t forget, if you did spring cleaning in 2012 you can take advantage of these tax deductions when you file your 2012 taxes.  TurboTax will ask you the proper questions so that you can keep more of your hard-earned money.

Mortgage Interest Deduction

That big fat mortgage payment you now have to pay every month has an upside. The interest portion of every payment is tax deductible.  Keep in mind that, at the beginning of your mortgage, most of your payment is interest, meaning that the overwhelming majority of your payment is tax deductible.

Real Estate Tax Deduction

Every dollar you pay in real estate taxes is deductible.  While it’s never fun to learn that your property taxes have gone up again, at least you will be able to take some solace in knowing your tax deductions (and your resulting income tax savings) will increase at the same rate.

Charitable Donation Deduction

While the charitable donation deduction might seem unrelated to a home purchase, this is income taxes we’re talking about.  Before you purchased your home, you may not have had enough tax deductions to itemize your deductions.

Why?  Since your standard deduction was greater than your itemized deductions, you did not benefit from any of the itemized deductions you could have otherwise taken.  But when you became a homeowner, the mortgage interest and real estate taxes alone often make it so that you will be able to itemize and you are now eligible for additional tax deductions. The most common of these is the charitable donation deduction. So, if you tithe at church or give clothes to the Vietnam Veterans, you will now also receive a tax benefit from doing so.

Other Considerations for First Time Home Buyers

Save your closing form (HUD).  When you file your tax return for the first time after buying a home, additional expenses incurred on your HUD may be deductible, including prepaid interest (points) you pay at closing.

Save all of your home improvement receipts.  You are likely to sell your home one day.  Most home sales do not result in income tax.  However, it is possible if you move very quickly or make a very big profit. To lessen the odds you will owe capital gains taxes on the sale of your home, save your receipts!

Welcome to the world of home ownership. It can be wonderful and expensive. Make sure you take advantage of every opportunity to keep your costs in line.  Start with taking maximum advantage of the tax deductions available to you.

Don’t worry about knowing all of these tax deductions, TurboTax will ask you simple questions, and give you the tax deductions you’re eligible for.  If you have questions, only TurboTax lets you talk to CPAs, Enrolled Agents, and tax attorneys while you prepare your tax return, free.

But what can you deduct? What amount of your medical expenses are tax deductible? Do you have to show proof of the expenses that you’re claiming as deductions? Whose medical bills are able to be deducted?

These are some very common questions about medical expenses, so let’s just dive right in.

You Can Deduct Medical Expenses

More than a few people are surprised to learn that a portion of the cost of their medical and dental expenses can be subtracted, or deducted, from their adjusted gross income. However, on your 2012 taxes, only medical and dental expenses that meet the government’s minimum required amount, which is anything above 7 ½ percent of your adjusted gross income (AGI), are eligible.

In other words, if you’re medical expenses aren’t equal to or greater than 7 and a half percent of your income, you can’t claim them as tax deductions.

Of course, these expenses can only be deducted from your income if you itemize your tax deductions instead of taking the standard deduction.

Whose Expenses Can Be Deducted?

Whether you’re a first-timer in the medical deductions arena or a seasoned veteran, it’s important to know exactly whose medical expenses can be deducted from your income.

Although almost everyone’s life (and therefore tax) situation is unique, you can somewhat generalize the rules about medical and dental deductions. Here’s the low-down: you can deduct your medical and dental expenses, those of your spouse, or the expenses of your dependent’s – if you choose to itemize.

If you’re not sure about itemizing your deductions, TurboTax will figure out which choice benefits you best – itemize or take the standard deduction.

Exactly Which Medical and Dental Expenses Can I Deduct?

The government has an enormous list of qualifying medical and dental expenses that they have ruled as eligible for deduction on your income taxes. For a full list of every piece of information dealing with deductible medical expenses, see IRS Publication 502.

For time’s sake, here are a few of the most common expenses (and some commonly overlooked expenses) that are deductible.

• Diagnosis and Cures
• Annual Physical Exams
• Medicine, Treatment and Prevention
• Dental Treatments
• Medical Equipment, Supplies and Diagnosis Devices
• Ambulance and Other Medical Professional Transportation
• Travel expenses to and from treatment
• Insurance payments
• Chiropractor
• Psychologist
• Physical Therapy

Medical Expenses that Aren’t Deductible

The IRS updates the list of medical expense deductions quite frequently, from a tax perspective, so it’s important to know not only what is considered deductible, but what isn’t.

A few expenses that may be medical-related but aren’t as of yet deductible, according to Uncle Sam, are:

• Elective cosmetic surgery
• Medicine that isn’t FDA approved
• Expenses related to a funeral
• Medicare tax payments (for the self-employment tax)

1.  First, combat pay is not subject to Federal income tax. Combat Zones are defined by the federal government under executive order, and currently include Arabian Peninsula Areas, Kosovo area, and Afghanistan.

The lack of any family income could disqualify civilians from receiving any Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Even though the combat pay received isn’t taxable, it may be included as income for purposes of qualifying for the EITC. The EITC is based on income and the number of children you have, and may be as much as $5,891 for a family with three or more children. This credit is refundable meaning even if you have no tax at all for the year, you can still receive this credit.

2.  The Roth Thrift Savings Plan was introduced this year providing an excellent alternative to the standard pretax plan that had rules similar to the private sector’s 401(k). As combat pay isn’t taxed, the ability to put some of this money into a Roth designated retirement plan will provide you and your family with a tax free benefit when you retire.

3.  You may have taken a withdrawal from an IRA, 401(k), 403(b), or other qualified plan. If so, the 10% penalty for early distribution will not apply, only the tax that would normally be due for the non-taxed portion of the withdrawal.

If this is your situation, I’m happy to share with you a unique opportunity, the ability to make up this withdrawal. You have up to two years after your active duty ends and are permitted to deposit these returned funds to an IRA even if it was taken from a 401(k) or other qualified plan. This transaction is reported on form 8606. A very nice, yet little-known benefit you might use.

4.  For moving expenses to be a deduction for civilians, there are a number of requirements to meet. Not so for those on active duty. You are able to deduct the cost of moves from your home to your first post, moves from one permanent post of duty to another, and finally, for the move home within a year of your active duty coming to an end. Eligible expenses include the cost of moving household goods and travel costs for you and the members of your household. This includes your spouse and dependents.

5.  If you are selling your home, the current test to take advantage of the $250K (Single)/$500K (Married Filing Joint) exclusion of gains is that you must have lived in the house for two of the prior five years. Members of the armed forces are permitted to suspend the 5-year look-back for as many as ten years. In effect, if you qualify for the two/five rule, the time you are serving will not let the five years get behind you.

6.  Last I’d like to share that TurboTax has introduced TurboTax Military Edition. It’s free for those at a pay grade of E-1 to E-5. It will help you capture the tax credits and deductions that are offered to the men and women who have served.

But those tax breaks don’t do much good if they aren’t taken. Here are 6 of some of the commonly missed tax benefits:

1.  Travel expense for reservists. If you are in the National Guard or military reserve, you may be able to deduct your travel expenses. If you travel more than 100 miles from home and are away overnight, you can deduct your lodging, half of the cost of meals, plus 55.5 cents per mile (56.5 cents per mile in 2013), plus toll fees and parking.

2.  ROTC payments. If you are a student in the ROTC, you don’t have to pay tax on the allowance that you receive for your participation in advanced training.  This rule doesn’t apply to any active duty pay that you receive.

3.  Combat pay. The pay you receive for any month that you serve in a combat zone is not taxable to you. If you a military officer your tax-free pay may be subject to a cap. But even though your combat pay isn’t taxable, don’t overlook it. You can take that pay into account to qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit.

4.  Military uniforms. The cost of military uniforms, including their cleaning and upkeep, are deductible. They must be uniforms that you are prohibited from wearing when off duty, and your deduction is reduced by any uniform allowance that you receive.

5.  Moving expenses. If you are on active duty and have moving expenses in connection with a permanent change of station, those moving expenses are deductible, if they are not reimbursed to you. You may also qualify for a moving expense deduction once you are out of the military, if your move is related to the start of a new job in a new location. The requirements are confusing, but TurboTax Military Edition will walk you through the process to determine if you qualify.  If you have additional questions, you can ask TurboTax tax experts who are CPAs, IRS Enrolled Agents, and tax attorneys.

6.  Filing your tax return. If you are serving in a combat zone during tax filing season, you have at least 180 days beyond the traditional April 15 deadline to file your tax return. If you are hospitalized because of injuries you sustained in a combat zone, similar extensions of time to file apply.

If you are serving overseas in a non-combat zone, the April 15 deadline is automatically extended to June 15 (June 17 for this filing year, since June 15 falls on a Saturday). If you are a civilian serving in a combat zone, the same rules apply, but you need to write the words “Combat Zone” and your deployment date in red across the top of your tax return. Military members do not have to make this notation on their tax return. And if you are serving in the military and so are not available to sign a joint return, your spouse can sign it under a power of attorney.

Job Hunting Costs

Did you start a new job in 2012? If so, you might be able to deduct the costs related to your job hunt. There are some rules, though:

• You can only take deductions if you were looking for a new job in the same field.
• You can’t take the job hunting deduction if you were looking for your first job.
• Your costs must exceed 2% of your AGI, and you can only deduct the amount over that 2%.
• There cannot have been a substantial break between when your old job ended, and you began looking for a new job.

If you meet those conditions, you can deduct the costs of career counseling, hiring a head hunter, resume help, cost of mailings and phone calls, and the cost of travel to go to job interviews. Remember, these are deductions from your income, when you itemize, and not a tax credit. What this means is that if you spend $500 for someone to review your resume, you don’t get $500 off your tax liability. You get $500 off as a deduction to the extent that all of these expenses exceed 2% of your AGI.

Other Unreimbursed Employee Costs

You can also take a tax deduction for costs related to your employment that you aren’t reimbursed for by your employer. This tax deduction is available whether you are an old job, in a new job, or starting your first job.

Some of the expenses that you might be able to deduct include:

• Depreciation on equipment, such as a cell phone or computer, that you bought in order to do your job.
• Dues to professional societies, unions, and chambers of commerce.
• Employment-related education costs
• The cost of obtaining licenses related to your profession.
• Travel costs related to a business trip, including passport fees.
• Tools and other supplies that you use for your work.
• The cost of uniforms, and how much you have to pay to keep them properly maintained.
• Subscriptions to trade magazines and professional journals in your field.
• Home office expenses, if you have a designated area exclusively related to work as you telecommute.

Once again, your ability to deduct expenses is subject to the 2% rule. So, if your AGI is $42,000, your costs need to be at least $840, and you can only deduct the amount above that number. So, if you spent $1,000 on employment related expenses, you can only deduct $160 from your income.

You can only claim expenses for which you were not reimbursed. If the company is paying for your cell phone, or if it covers your business travel expenses, you can’t deduct those. Anything the company pays for can’t be deducted from your taxes, it’s considered double dipping and is not permitted.

If you found yourself paying costs related to your new job, you might be able to reduce your tax liability to help offset some of your expenses to keep more money in your pocket.

TurboTax will figure out the employee deductions your eligible for based on your answers to simple questions.

1. Adjustments to Income
2. Itemized Deductions

Adjustments to Income

IRA Deduction

You have until April 15, 2013 to make a contribution to a regular IRA for the 2012 tax year.  As long as your income is less than certain limits, you may take a tax deduction for your IRA contribution.  No deduction is available for a Roth IRA contribution.

Moving Expenses

If you moved far enough during 2012 for a job, you might be eligible to take a deduction for expenses related to moving you, your family, and your possessions to your new home.  If your new workplace is at least 50 miles farther from your old home than your old job location was and you work for most of the next year (39 out of the following 52 weeks), your expenses may be tax deductible.

Alimony

Most alimony you pay during 2012 is taxable income to your ex-spouse.  It’s also deductible for you.

Student Loan Interest

Up to $2,500 of the interest you paid during 2012 on most student loans is tax deductible.  You’ll probably receive a Form 1098-E, indicating the total amount of student loan interest you paid.  If the amount you paid exceeds $2,500, then you qualify for the maximum deduction. If you paid some lesser amount, you can deduct the amount you actually paid.

Common Itemized Deductions

Charitable Donations

Gifts you make to 501(c)3 organizations (i.e., most legitimate charitable organizations) are tax deductible. Gifts can include not only cash, checks, or credit card charges, but also donations of clothing and household items.  Make sure you get donation receipts for your files, and then deduct your charitable donations as itemized deductions.

Mortgage Interest

Interest you pay on your mortgage is tax deductible. Recall the deduction isn’t for your entire mortgage payment – it is only for the interest portion. Fortunately, your bank will send you a Form 1098 in January indicating the amount of your 2012 mortgage payments attributable to interest, and it is this amount you can deduct.

State and Local Taxes

While you can’t deduct your federal income tax, your Social Security, or Medicare taxes, you do catch a tax break for the state income tax and property tax you pay – if you itemize.

Typically, each of the above tax deductions are both simple to claim and worth the additional time it takes to prepare your tax return.  Plus TurboTax helps you get all of the tax deductions and credits you’re eligible for.  It is worth it to ensure you keep more money in your pocket!

What do you call it when a blogger sits down to write a post titled, “Shedding Holiday Pounds” alongside a big bag of tortilla chips?

On second thought, don’t answer that.

I’ll ask you another question instead:  What do you call it when you learn of a financial incentive to do something you kind of know you ought to be doing anyway?

Exactly – a no-brainer.

Shedding Pounds

If you need to lose weight, many of your expenses helping you to do so may be tax deductible. But, since it’s taxes we’re talking about, it’s not as simple as, “Deduct all of your weight loss expenses.”  There are a few hurdles you have to overcome to reduce your tax burden.

Key Requirements to Deduct Weight Loss Expenses

Remember when you needed a doctor’s note to get away with something?  Same deal for the weight loss tax deduction.  In order for the tax deduction to be available for you, losing weight is something the doctor has to tell you need to do.  Your doc needs a good reason, too. He or she can’t just provide you a generalized recommendation along the lines of a reminder to wear your seat belt.  Instead, your doctor must recommend, in writing, that you lose weight to help something critical to your health. Once you have the note, you’re on the way to a medical expense deduction.

What Weight Loss Expenses Are Deductible?

Let’s get the fun stuff out of the way first. Gym memberships, healthy food, and a treadmill are not deductible expenses.  Neither are vitamins or herbal supplements.  On the other hand, you may deduct meetings with a nutritionist, other related doctor’s appointments, the cost of weight loss programs, prescription weight loss drugs, and even the cost of gastric bypass surgery as long as the expenses are related to the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease.

What Else Should You Consider?

Qualifying weight loss costs are deductible as medical expenses.  Due to their nature, such expenses are therefore  tax deductible to the extent that all of them exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income and you itemize your tax deductions.  After December 31, 2012 your expenses will need to exceed your adjusted gross income by 10%.  If you’re not sure if you can itemize, TurboTax will ask you simple questions and determine if you are eligible.   If you won’t be able to itemize, consider using your workplace flexible spending account to save on your weight loss expenses.

Military members and families, we salute you this Veterans Day. So does Uncle Sam, by providing some well-deserved tax breaks. Though as a general rule all income is taxable, if you serve in the military some of your income is excluded from taxation, due to special rules just for you.

Military benefits

Combat pay

If you serve in a combat zone for any part of a month, your income for that month is exempt from federal taxes.

Use that tax break to maximum benefit by taking the money you would have spent on taxes and using it for contributions to an Individual Retirement Account (IRA). Since your IRA can grow tax deferred until you withdraw the money, that will really give you a leg up on creating a secure future retirement.

Want to make it even better? Since you won’t need a tax deduction for the contribution, consider putting the money into a Roth IRA instead of a traditional IRA, and you’ll never have to pay tax on the earnings. You can make a 2012 IRA contribution and a spousal IRA contribution until the April 15, 2013 tax filing deadline, plus any applicable extensions.

Your can also increase your contributions to your federal Thrift Savings Plan. For any period you are serving in a combat zone, you may invest as much as $50,000 rather than the normal $17,000 limitation.

Other pay

If you receive uniforms or a uniform allowance, that isn’t taxable income to you. Neither are moving and storage expenses provided by the government, legal assistance, commissary discounts, professional education, survivor benefit and life insurance premiums, and basic allowances for housing and assistance.

Travel allowances are not taxable, either, including transportation for you and your family during ship inactivation, per diem travel allowances, leave between overseas tours, space-available travel on government aircraft, and round trip travel for dependent students.

Medical and dependent benefits provided by the military aren’t taxable, including medical and dental care and dependent-care assistance program coverage.

You can also exclude reenlistment bonuses, pay for accrued leave and student loan repayments.

Special benefits for reservists

If you are a military reservist, you can take early withdrawals from IRA and 401(k) accounts without penalty if you meet certain conditions. To qualify for this exemption, you must have been called to active duty after Sept. 11, 2001 for more than 179 days, and you must make the withdrawal while you are on active duty.

If you are a member of the reserves, you can deduct your unreimbursed travel expenses in connection with your service as an adjustment to income and you don’t have to itemize your deductions, as long as the travel was more than 100 miles from home.

Reservists  who are prohibited from wearing certain uniforms when off duty can deduct the cost to buy and maintain those uniforms, reduced by any uniform allowance or reimbursement received.

Extension of Filing Deadlines for Those Serving in Combat Zones

Members of the military serving in combat zones get an automatic 180-day extension from the IRS for filing tax returns, paying taxes and filing refund claims. The automatic extension also applies to making qualified contributions to an IRA.

If you are serving away from home, your spouse can use a power of attorney to file a joint return on your behalf.

Hopefully these tax tips will help you understand the additional tax benefits available to you and if you need help or have questions TurboTax has CPAs to help answer your questions year-round.

Things that are outdated or faded and limp or that no longer fit? Don’t pack them away for next spring, give them to charity now. That way someone else will enjoy them and you’ll get a big fat tax deduction for 2012.

Get Organized

The limits for how much you can donate to charity don’t affect many of us. The deduction is limited to 50% of your income, and donations of property to certain organizations, such as veterans’ organizations, fraternal societies, nonprofit cemeteries, and certain private non-operating foundations, or to be used by an organization, are limited to 30% of your income. Unless the stuff in your closets is really, really valuable, those limitations probably won’t impact you.

To get a tax deduction for donations, you must itemize your deductions. That means your eligible tax deductions, must exceed the IRS standard deduction (in 2012, $5,950 if you are single, $11,900 if married, and $8,700 if head of household).

This could be a plus since you have a way to increase your tax deductions greater than the standard deduction and get a bigger tax refund by donating to charity.

To take a deduction for property donated, it must be in usable condition, and you must establish its fair value. For most clothing and household goods, that’s the thrift shop value. You can use TurboTax ItsDeductible to determine the value for most household items.  You’ll also need a signed receipt that proves you made the donation.

Maybe you, like me, are in need of a new car. With interest rates at historic lows and auto dealerships anxious to make a sale, the fall is an ideal time to shop. If the dealer won’t give you much for your car, consider donating it to charity.

Your deduction is limited to the amount that the charity gets when it sells the vehicle, but you will still be able to increase your tax deductions and your tax refund through giving.

Interactive by Column Five

How does your state’s property tax fare?  Well, at least property taxes are tax deductible.

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Business Travel

If you are aware of any conferences, trade shows, other events, or searching for a job in line with your industry, you probably understand that these trips can be deductible. So, why not combine a business-related trip with pleasure? That’s right, if you have an annual industry conference on the other side of the country, you could plan your trip carefully so that not only do you get to attend the conference, but also make a family vacation out of it. This doesn’t mean the family can tag along tax-free, but here’s how it works.

You can deduct expenses that are “ordinary” and “necessary” for your trade, business or profession. It doesn’t matter if you’re a salaried W-2 employee or self-employed. If attending an event is considered ordinary and necessary for your line of work, you’ll qualify for a deduction. For example, if you’re in the business of selling widgets and there’s an annual widget expo that highlights all the upcoming widgets, attending this event would be considered ordinary and necessary for your line of work and the costs incurred to attend the event could be deductible.

Now, say this is an expo in Florida and you just happened to be considering taking the family on a vacation this summer. If you planned on attending the expo anyway, why not take the family along and spend time together in Florida? You get to attend the event, your family gets to spend time in Florida, and you’re eligible for some tax deductions.

What You Can Deduct

Attending and traveling to events like these come with many possible deductions. For starters, you can deduct the registration fees and any materials required to attend. If you need to travel, you can deduct associated costs to get you to the event. This includes round-trip airfare, car rental, mileage when using your own vehicle, public transportation, and so on. In addition, you’re allowed to deduct lodging expenses. Finally, you will be able to deduct meals, but as you may know, business meals are only 50 percent deductible.

What You Can’t Deduct

If you’re taking the family along, unfortunately their individual expenses cannot be deducted. That means if your family of four is flying, you can only deduct your personal airfare. And if you take the family to do things not related to the event you’re there to attend, those obviously cannot be deducted. Finally, you also cannot deduct expenses incurred for things that occur beyond the event schedule. If you’re attending a three day conference but stay an entire week with your family, you can’t deduct the other four days of lodging, meals, etc.

But one thing that can be a benefit is lodging. Most of the time a hotel room rate will be the same whether it’s just you staying in it or if you’ve got your entire family staying there, so in effect you could be getting a tax break while your entire family stays with you.

Planning and Record Keeping

As you can see, it is possible to turn a business trip into a family vacation that could yield some nice tax breaks while getting your family out of the house. The key is careful planning and record keeping. You’ll first want to make sure the event you’re interested in would qualify as ordinary and necessary for your line of work, and then if so, work to structure the travel so that you can maximize your time and possibly make a nice little trip out of it.

Then, as always, keep good records. Make sure you keep all receipts, log mileage, save copies of event materials, and so on.  And don’t forget to separate the expenses required for the conference or event from the non-deductible family expenses so that you’re not double-dipping. But if done right, you can get ahead professionally and enjoy some tax breaks while bringing the family along for a little leisure time away from home.

Income

The value of personal exemptions increases to $3,800 per person and the standard deduction also rises to $5,950 for singles and $11,900 for married couples filing joint returns. Just over 2/3 of taxpayers take the standard deduction, so these year over year increases, however slight, are still important. The tax brackets (10%,15%,25%, 28%, 33%, 35%) remain unchanged, but the transition from one to the next shifts up slightly. For example, the single earner will see the 25% rate start at a taxable $35,350 in 2012 versus $34,500 in 2011. A bit of savings due to inflation adjusted brackets.

Inflation adjustment

The “Kiddie Tax” remains unchanged. A child with unearned income of up to $1900 may be able to take a $950 standard deduction and they will be taxed at the 10% tax rate. Income beyond that may be taxed at the parents’ rate.

Retirement Savings

Contribution limits rose for 401(k), 403(b), and 457 plans as well as the Thrift Savings Plan. The new limit in 2012 is $17,000 plus an extra $5,500 if you are 50 or older by the end of the year. The IRA limit remains at $5,000 or $6,000 if 50 or older.

Deductions

The HSA (Health Savings Account) contribution limit has increased to $3,100 for individuals and $6,250 for families. An additional $1,000 is available for those 55 and older.

There are no changes this year to the Dependent Care Account.  There is a $5,000 limit for money you and your spouse can withhold pre-tax to pay child care expenses for your child under age 13.

Flexible Spending Accounts will also see no change in 2012. This is pretax money you have withheld in order to pay for medical needs, including co-pays or prescriptions not covered by your plan. There is currently no limit, although most employers have a $5000 maximum permitted. If you have been debating about getting any elective medical procedures you may want to make the most of your flexible spending account in 2012 since the rules will change in 2013 and the maximum you will be able to contribute to an FSA will be limited to $2,500 per year.

Credits

In 2012 the Adoption Tax Credit decreases to $12,650. Also note, in 2011, it was refundable, meaning you’d get it if you qualified, regardless of your total tax bill. In 2012, the tax credit can not create a negative tax bill, it can only offset your taxes due for the year.

Child Tax Credit – In 2012 you can still take advantage of this tax credit and reduce your tax liability by up to $1,000 for each qualifying child under 17.  The Child Tax Credit is scheduled to expire at the end of 2012.  If the same tax credit is not extended after 2012, the Child Tax Credit may decrease to $500 in 2013.

Earned Income Tax Credit – This tax credit increased to a maximum $5,891 in 2012, up $140 from last year. The maximum income to receive any of this credit is $50,270, and the credit itself is based on both income and number of dependents in your family. Note – Your investment income must be under $3,200 to qualify for this credit so plan accordingly.

The Saver’s Credit – This is a credit up to $2000 for couples and $1000 if you’re single. To qualify, a couple may have an income of up to $28,750 for a single filer, and $57,500 for married filing jointly. This credit is based on both income and your deposit to a retirement account. It’s also impacted by other deductions and credits, so it’s best to let TurboTax show you what credit, if any you’re eligible for.

Estate Tax

The estate tax top rate will stay at 35%, with the exemption rising to $5,120,000 until the end of 2012.

Charitable donations

Fortunately, Uncle Sam has the same idea and if you do things right, you can clean out your home and get a nice tax deduction for your trouble when you file your taxes. As you go through your home and clear out your clutter, don’t forget the less fortunate. After all, what you don’t want cluttering up your home can be a treasure to someone else – and a tax deduction for you.

Remove Clutter from Your Home

As you do summertime cleaning, keep an eye out for items you don’t use anymore. Will you seriously use that exercise bike? That old sports equipment? Do you have clothing that you don’t wear anymore? Books that you are slowly replacing with electronic versions? All of these items can be donated to a local thrift store or other charity organization.

Removing clutter from your home can provide you with the chance to carefully consider your relationship with stuff, downsize some of your lifestyle, and create more space in your house. To make the process more manageable, concentrate on one area at a time, breaking the task down into smaller pieces.

I like to put little used items into a box. If I don’t touch the items for the next month, or two or six, I just take the box out to Goodwill and make a donation. If I don’t use something for six months, chances are I won’t use it ever again.

Donate Your Clutter for a Tax Deduction

As you clean your home, consider the condition of your items. If you want a tax deduction, the items you donate must be in good condition. Be honest about each item, setting aside the items in good condition for donation, and preparing the items in poor condition for disposal (recycling if possible). Keep track of the market value of the items you plan to donate.  You can use ItsDeductible to track the value of your charitable donations year-round.

When you take your donation to the charitable organization, ask for a receipt. In order to deduct the value of donated goods, you need to document details of the donations. Some organizations will only issue you a receipt if you ask for it, so remember to ask because you are required to have a receipt for your charitable contribution.

File the receipt in a folder meant for tax documents. That way you will know right where your documents are and you won’t have to worry about trying to find the receipt at tax time.

Lastly, you can claim the deduction if you itemize your deductions and you’ll get a fraction of its value as a tax deduction, depending on your tax bracket. If you claim the standard deduction, you won’t be able to get a tax deduction for charitable donations.

Summertime can be a good time to remove clutter, providing you with an orderly home. On top of that, you can also help others. Donating your goods can help a charity by providing needed supplies, or provide items for sale in a thrift store to fund charitable activities. Not only can you help others, but you can also help yourself with a tax deduction. You can deduct the dollar amount of the value of your donated goods, resulting in a reduction in your tax liability. Your new beginning can help you at tax time, and provide a new beginning for others.

Weddings

Charitable Donations

While it is your special day that you’ll never forget, have you thought of how you can make it a special day for others by donating? For many people, their wedding wardrobe, decorations, and other items are only used for one day and then packed away, sometimes forgotten in the attic. Why not see if you can part with a few of these dear items afterward and support worthy causes close to your heart?

Wedding Dress, Flowers, and Food

While you won’t get a tax deduction for buying your wedding dress, you can donate it and deduct it as a charitable contribution, provided it’s to a qualified organization. Make sure you keep all receipts and documentation for when you file your taxes. Please note, if the value of the items you’ve donated is more than $5,000 you must also get an appraisal.

If you think you may have plenty of food leftover from the reception, consider having someone take it over to a local homeless shelter. Ask them to get a receipt if possible. You could also donate the reception flowers to the shelter – it can brighten others’ day along with giving you a deduction.

Wedding Venue

Where you get married may mean that your venue payment could be tax deductible. Some possible locations to consider on your list of places to tour include your church, state park, or your local museum. Check with your venue to see if you qualify.

Thoughts on Weddings and Tax Breaks

Of course your wedding day planning shouldn’t just be focused on getting the most tax deductions you can; however it doesn’t hurt if you can do some good and get a tax break.  Also, don’t forget if you give any generous donations, you can track them with ItsDeductible year round.

I’d love to hear your thoughts. How many of you are getting married this year? Have you decided on the venue, the dress, and the guest list yet? What tax deductions do you think you’ll qualify for?

Natural Disaster

If you haven’t already filed your taxes and were a victim of recent severe storms, flooding, or disasters you may have more time to pay taxes and file your tax returns if you were affected and in counties designated as federal disaster areas qualifying for individual assistance.

The extended dates are specified by county and may give you an extension to file your 2011 tax return as late as May 31, 2012 (the postponement applies to the normal April 17 tax deadline for filing 2011 individual income tax returns, making income tax payments, and making 2011 contributions to an IRA if you were an affected taxpayer)

You can consult the FEMA website to see if your area was declared a Federal Disaster Area. That web address is http://www.fema.gov/news/disaster_totals_annual.fema

Who May Be Entitled to Relief

Taxpayers affected by disaster and eligible for relief include:

• Individuals whose principal residence and any business entity whose place of business is located in counties designated as disaster areas.
• Any individual who is a relief worker assisting in a covered disaster area, regardless of whether they are affiliated with recognized government or philanthropic organizations.
• Individuals whose principal residence, and any business entity whose principal place of business is not located in a covered disaster area, but whose records necessary to meet the filing or payment deadline are maintained in a covered disaster area.
• Estates or trust that have tax records necessary to meet filing or payment deadlines in a covered disaster area.
• Any spouse of an affected taxpayer with regard to a joint return of the husband and wife.

Claiming Casualty Loss for Disasters

Whether or not your area was declared a federal disaster, you are entitled to claim casualty losses as an itemized deduction on your tax return.  A casualty loss is officially defined as “the damage, destruction or loss of your property from any sudden, unexpected or unusual event such as a flood, hurricane, tornado, fire, earthquake or even volcanic eruption.”  The loss can be from a natural or man-made disaster.

You’ll claim your loss on Form 4684, which is  filed with your tax return. The first $100 of loss is not deductible, and the remainder of the loss is deductible to the extent that it exceeds 10% of your adjusted gross income. Of course, any losses reimbursed by insurance or covered by federal disaster funds aren’t deductible.  TurboTax walks you through, step by step, and makes all the computations for you.

Though a casualty loss is usually deductible in the year it happened, you have the option of taking the deduction on your prior year’s return so you can reap the benefit quickly.  The deadline for choosing in which tax year to claim the loss is generally the due date of your current-year return.  If you’ve already filed, use TurboTax to amend your return on Form 1040X, writing in red at the top of the return  “Disaster” and the name of your city, county or state that was declared a disaster area.

Other Relief Available

The IRS will also waive the usual fees and expedite requests for copies of previously filed tax returns for affected taxpayers. Taxpayers should put the assigned Disaster Designation in red ink at the top of Form 4506, Request for Copy of Tax Return, or Form 4506-T, Request for Transcript of Tax Return, as appropriate, and submit it to the IRS.

Though a tax deduction doesn’t reimburse your loss dollar for dollar, it does reduce your taxable income, resulting in a lower tax bill or bigger refund.

Charitable Travel

First, you have to know whether or not the organization you volunteered for was a qualified organization. No matter what you gave, be it time or money, the IRS only allows you to deduct when it’s been given to a qualified organization. The good news is that most public and non-profit private organizations are qualified, but it is up to you to find out if you aren’t sure.

Now when it comes to travel incurred while volunteering there are a few things to consider. First, the IRS says that generally you can claim a charitable contribution deduction for travel expenses necessarily incurred while you are away from home performing services for a charitable organization only if there is no significant element of personal pleasure, recreation, or vacation in the travel. The good news here is that most travel expenses will qualify, but keep in mind that you can’t turn one way of volunteering into a week-long vacation with the family and expect to write off all the airfare and lodging costs.

Deductible Travel Expenses

Most common expenses related to travel are allowed. Here is what the IRS defines as deductible travel expenses:

• Air, rail, and bus transportation,
• Out-of-pocket expenses for your car,
• Taxi fares or other costs of transportation between the airport or station and your hotel,
• Lodging costs, and
• The cost of meals.

When it comes to using your own car for travel you can do one of two things. You may deduct the actual cost of gas used to get to and from the volunteer site, or you can deduct the IRS standard rate of 14 cents per mile. Unlike using your personal car for business, you cannot deduct expenses such as insurance, maintenance, or depreciation.

As always, it pays to keep detailed records regarding all expenses related to the trip. You may need to substantiate your expenses so keep a log of the miles driven, keep all receipts for meals and lodging, tolls or parking, and anything else related to your time volunteering.

Job-Related Deductions

While not as generous as tax deductions available to business owners, the ability to deduct some job-related expenses can certainly add up. If you’re required to travel or conduct a lot of business outside of the office there’s a good chance your employer reimburses you for many of these expenses, but every company is different and you may be footing the bill for things that you could possibly claim as a deduction.

Before getting into the actual deductions we need to understand what the IRS considers unreimbursed employee expenses. Your expenses must have been required for you to carry out the job for which you were hired and must be what the IRS calls “ordinary and necessary.” This means the item or service is common and accepted in your line of work and is appropriate and helpful to your job. In addition, to be able to claim these deductions you must itemize on Schedule A, and your unreimbursed business expenses must total more than 2 percent of your adjusted gross income(AGI). To give you an idea, if you have an AGI of $40,000, your expenses need to be more than $800 before you could begin claiming any deductions.

Possible Deduction Categories

To give you a better idea of what types of expenses might qualify for unreimbursed job-related expenses, here is a brief overview. And again, these only qualify if your employer doesn’t already reimburse you.

• Legal fees related to doing or keeping your job.
• Licenses and regulatory fees as well as occupational taxes.
• Dues to professional groups, unions, or local trade groups.
• Education that is related to or required for employment.
• Work clothes and uniforms, and possibly upkeep costs.
• Subscriptions to professional journals and magazines related to your line of work.
• Medical examinations that are required by your employer.
• Depreciation on technology required to do your job.
• A home office or part of your home used regularly and exclusively for work.

Unfortunately, commuting expenses to get to and from your job are not a deductible expense, but if you do need to use your vehicle for work-related activities such as meetings, conferences, trade shows, or other travel, you may be able to deduct the actual expenses required for the trip or use the IRS standard mileage deduction.

Above all else, keep good records throughout the year. You may or may not reach the 2 percent threshold, but it’s worth keeping track just in case, and it’s a lot easier to tally up receipts at the end of the year rather than trying to come up with all of your expenses after the fact. If you’ve determined that you qualify for deducting some of these expenses you can look to Form 2106 or 2106-EZ. And of course, TurboTax will assist you with recording and claiming these unreimbursed job-related expenses.

Tax Deadline

According to the IRS, 28% of Americans wait until these last few weeks to file.  However, you may want to think twice about procrastinating any longer. A TurboTax study conducted by Harris Interactive found that 60% of Americans say someone is more attractive if they don’t procrastinate in financial matters, including filing their taxes.*

Need a reason to stop procrastinating on filing your taxes?  That’s what we are here for.  Did you know that about ¾ of taxpayers get a tax refund and the average refund is almost $3,000? That’s a lot of money, and more than half (57%) of U.S. adults who receive a tax refund agree that the day their refund arrives is as exciting as a holiday or their birthday!  So why wait…

Here are a few last minute tax tips to help get you started:

• Contribute to an IRA – Even procrastinators can save money on their taxes. You have until the April 17 deadline to contribute to an IRA and get a deduction.

• Remember charitable contributions – Donations such as clothing, electronics and toys you may have donated can also add up to tax savings if you itemize.  Even mileage to and from volunteering could be tax deductible.

• Go online – Taxpayers can go online to TurboTax and prepare and e-file taxes up to the last minute – it’s fast, easy and convenient.  Plus you can file from virtually anywhere using your mobile devices. TurboTax has mobile apps for Android phones and tablets, including Kindle Fire, as well as iPhone and iPad, make filing on the go a breeze. Now you have no excuses, even when you’re on the go.

• Need answers? – Ready to file, but have a few questions you need answered first.  Don’t worry, you don’t have to pay an arm and a leg to speak with a tax expert, you can get answers free of charge from a highly qualified tax expert.  TurboTax has tax experts (100% CPAs, EAs or tax attorneys) standing by to answer your tax questions by phone or chat – for free!

• Need more time? – Taxpayers can get an extra six months to file, until Oct. 15, by filing a tax extension with TurboTax for free. But remember, an extension to file is not an extension to pay taxes. If you file for an extension, you still need to pay (within 90 percent accuracy) by April 17 to avoid late penalties.

• Can’t pay? – You’re not alone. Taxpayers who can’t pay their full bill can request a streamlined installment plan. You may qualify for a streamlined plan as long as you don’t owe more than $50,000, have an income of more than $100,000, and you must be able to pay your tax bill off within six years.

• E-file for a faster return submission – TurboTax offers free federal e-filing, plus e-filing of your state for an additional charge. Not only will you get your refund faster with e-filing, you’ll also get to avoid the crazy lines at the post office.

So stop procrastinating and file today!

* Among those providing a response

Abbreviated Methodology

The survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of TurboTax from March 16-20, 2012 among 2,185 adults ages 18 and older. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables, please contact Laura Schmidt (415) 392-8282