Taxes For Dummies

Chapter 11

Itemized Deductions: Schedule A

IN THIS CHAPTER

Taking standard deductions versus itemizing

Getting compensated for medical and dental expenses

Writing off taxes and interest you paid

Considering gifts to charity and casualty and theft losses

Perusing miscellaneous deductions

You’ve now reached that point in preparing your return where you must decide whether to itemize your deductions or not. You’ve totaled your income and subtracted your allowable adjustments to income. To arrive at your taxable income, you either have to subtract your standard deduction and exemptions — or take the more difficult road and subtract your itemized deductions.

If you choose to take your standard deduction, you get to subtract that amount of money from your adjusted gross income (AGI), whether or not you actually paid anything close to that amount for deductible expenses. But when you’re ...