Bought a house, now I can itemize! What receipts should I be saving?

**Laura2** · 08-10-2008, 12:29 AM

My fiance and I just bought a house this past may. We are excited that we will be able to itemize our taxes this year. I have started asking for and saving all receipts when I donate. But other than this, I'm not sure what to do.

What other receipts should I be saving for tax season? For those who do itemize, do you find that you save on taxes by doing so?

Thank you for your replies.

**Greebo** · 08-10-2008, 07:28 AM

Charitable donations
Any purchases for home improvement that improve energy efficiency (insulation, windows, etc)
Medical expenses (may or may not be deductible, depends on how much of a % of your income they account for)

You will also receive new forms from the banks - specifically, a statement concerning how much interest you paid. While the tax deduction on interest is not a good deal (in the sense that paying the bank 10,000 to get 2,500 taken off your taxes isn't a good deal), its still better than not getting a deduction.

Trying to think of what else might be included - if you name some that are on your mind I may know.

**The Muse** · 08-10-2008, 08:38 AM

Save on taxes...lol! We don't end up much better off by itemizing than we do taking the standard deduction, but we have a low interest rate.

Pretty much energy improvements and interest are all you're going to be able to deduct for house related things.

Like Greebo said, save any receipts for charitable donations and anything medical related.

**elphie** · 08-10-2008, 09:33 AM

We save a lot on taxes by itemizing, however this is more due to my husband doing a lot of work for ppl on his own so technically he is self-employed (even though he has a regular job and this is only his weekend gig... go figure).

Anyway, we do all the things Greebo and Muse suggested above. Our property taxes are also deductible on both our home and our cars. In my state (MO) we can also choose to deduct sales tax instead of property tax if the sales tax we have spent in a given year is greater than our property tax. This is especially useful if you have purchased something large, like a car or boat, that you have paid sales tax on.

For charitable donations, that isn't just money but also items that are deductible. Get a receipt from Goodwill and there is a form on H&R blocks website to help you determine the value of your donation. Monetary donations to churches and organizations of course but if the neighbor kids come around selling stuff for school you can choose to make a cash donation instead and this is deductible since you didn't receive any goods in return. If you buy something it isn't a donation.

We also save anything that is work related if it something made specifically for your line of work. For example my husband works construction and his clothes, work boots, and tools are deductible. When I was teaching anything I bought for my classroom was deductible. If either of us needed to eat while working off site out it was deductible. Mileage from your work (not from your house) to the off site location is also deductible. We also depriciate the value of the tools and the truck that is primarily used for my husband's part time business.

The medical expenses can be tricky... you have to spend a lot to get that deduction, I can't remember the % but I know its a lot. However, I always keep track because you never know. Since we are now paying the premiums for me and my kids are no longer on cafeteria plan at my work I think we will qualify this year. So, we save reciepts for all medications, (including over the counter), any and all medical equipment, (this includes band-aids, peroxide, etc.), of course our insurance premiums, copays for office visits and prescriptions, and reciepts for alternative therapies (some of these are deductible, some are not). If your doctor has advised you to lose weight then fees to attend meetings such as Weight Watchers are also deductible. Medical mileage is also deductible- .10 per mile for traveling to appointments but you must keep a log of the odometer reading in case of audit.

One other thought... I prepared our taxes for years but when we started depriciating the value of things and it grew more complicated I started paying someone else... and this is also deductible, the fee you pay to have your taxes prepared, even if you do it yourself the software is deductible.

**Missourimom** · 08-10-2008, 09:47 AM

Originally Posted by elphie

So, we save reciepts for all medications, (including over the counter), any and all medical equipment, (this includes band-aids, peroxide, etc.),

Elphie, are you sure the highlighted items are deductible?

**McD** · 08-10-2008, 09:51 AM

Also--you really should have the abstract to your home in a safe deposit box. The safe deposit box fee is tax-deductible.

**jas** · 08-10-2008, 10:47 AM

Can you deduct insurance premiums even if they are pretax? The premium for our health insurance (dh & I) pretax on his check. My dd is private pay and not pretax.

Can we deduct both or just hers?

**The Muse** · 08-10-2008, 11:08 AM

Originally Posted by jas

Can you deduct insurance premiums even if they are pretax? The premium for our health insurance (dh & I) pretax on his check. My dd is private pay and not pretax.

Can we deduct both or just hers?

You can't deduct things that are paid for pre-tax because you've already gotten a tax break.

**elphie** · 08-10-2008, 02:07 PM

Originally Posted by Missourimom

Elphie, are you sure the highlighted items are deductible?

Yes, I first heard this from my tax preparer and just to be on the safe side I double checked the info on the IRS website.

Originally Posted by jas

Can you deduct insurance premiums even if they are pretax? The premium for our health insurance (dh & I) pretax on his check. My dd is private pay and not pretax.

Can we deduct both or just hers?

Just hers, as Muse said you already got a tax break on you and dh.

**jas** · 08-10-2008, 05:12 PM

Thanks Muse and Elphie. That does make sense.

Just say my dh changes jobs and in the interium we get a private policy for the 90 days it would take for the company insurance to kick in could we deduct those three months?

**elphie** · 08-10-2008, 05:52 PM

Originally Posted by jas

Thanks Muse and Elphie. That does make sense.

Just say my dh changes jobs and in the interium we get a private policy for the 90 days it would take for the company insurance to kick in could we deduct those three months?

Absolutely!

**Greebo** · 08-10-2008, 06:20 PM

The OTC meds and the like are only deductible IF you cross the medical expenses threshold, which I seem to recall is something like 10% of your income.

But its worth tracking just in case.

When it comes to tax time, you can use turbotaxonline for free to see what items you should be thinking about. They only charge you if you try to file online or print the returns - but you can see what the numbers should be pretty easily w/o actually filing. (Course, I file electronically anyway...)