Make Your Summer a Successful One

Posted on: 3 April 2018

Hiring a tax consultant is something everyone who pays taxes should consider doing. Each year, people leave a lot of money on the table because they've failed to take into account certain deductions. Some of these deductions are not necessarily obvious, and only experts are likely to know about them. This is why it's always a good idea to seek out professional tax advisory services.

However, there some deductions you should know about. These are the first places the consultant will start looking for deductions.

Home Improvements

If you've recently made some energy-saving home improvements, you can get a 10% tax credit on what you paid for these items. This can include installing an energy-saving water heater or wall insulation.

If you have also put in an alternative energy system, like a wind turbine or a solar water heater, you can get a 30% tax credit. Each item will have a $500 lifetime limit, and only specific items will qualify for this tax credit.

Charitable Work

Many people are careful to take note of donations that they've made to charitable causes; however, many people forget to factor in expenses that may have been for a worthy cause. You can deduct money spent on:

-Baking cookies for a fundraiser for a local school

-Gas mileage for gas used while performing charitable acts

-Taking care of neglected pets, e.g. feral cats

However, to qualify for all these, you'll need to have worked with a social-welfare group, and you should have the necessary receipts for the work you've done.

Work Done Outside the Office

If you've incurred certain costs in the process of doing your work and these costs aren't covered by your employer, they can be deductible. These can include:

-Costs incurred on phone calls, if you buy your own minutes

-Money spent on classes to advance your career or to pay union fees

Money spent on job searching, like printing your resume or mailing your portfolio

Student Loan Interest

Many college graduates are still paying off their student loans, but many forget that they can write off the interest paid on their student loan debt. You don't have to be the one making the payment to write off the interest, as long as the payment is made in your name; you can still write off the interest if your parents are paying off your student loans. There is, however, a $2500 limit.

If you keep neat records, or you hire bookkeeping services like Tax Specialists Of Northern Colorado LLC to do that for you, you're more likely to find greater deductions when tax season rolls around. This is the importance of documenting all that you spend; you may learn about a new deduction, and you'll have the records to back it up.