ITEMIZED DEDUCTIONS

Deductions reduce your taxable income, which in turn reduces the amount of taxes that you are required to pay. Based on the amount that you've spent over the year on deductible items, you should be able to determine if itemizing your deductions will be the best way to file.

Standard Deductions for 2004 are:

Below is a list of common tax deductions. Although the list doesn't contain every tax deduction available, it gives you a good basis for calculating the sum of your itemized deductions, which you can compare to this year's standard deductions.

adoption credit	alimony	attorney fees
automobile	bad debts	books and magazines
boats and RVs	business conventions	capital loss carryover
casualty & theft losses	cellular phones	charitable contributions
children & dependents	child care credit	child tax credit
closing costs	clothing	computers
dues	earned income credit	education expenses
excess social security	401K credit	gambling losses
health insurance	home equity loan	home offices
hope credit	interest expense	internet expenses
investments	job hunting expenses	lifetime learning credit
meals & entertainment	medical expenses	moving expenses
points	self-employment taxes	state & local taxes
student loan interest	tax preparation fees	travel expenses