List of Missed Tax Deductions

Do you have questions about what you can and can’t deduct from your taxes? Check out the list below and don’t miss these potential tax deductions. Visit the official IRS site for the best tax deductions in each category.

EMPLOYMENT

• If you have been job hunting and paid for an outplacement service or mailed hard copies of your resume, you might be able to deduct these expenses. Check out the IRS site for job search related deductions. You can’t deduct these expenses if it’s your first time searching for a job though.
• If you’re in the National Guard or military reserve and have to travel more than 100 miles from home to go to meetings or trainings, you might be able to deduct some of these travel expenses even if you aren’t itemizing your taxes.
• If you’re self-employed and work from home, or use your house to operate your business, some of your housing expenses could be tax write offs, like your utilities, maintenance costs and mortgage. You can also deduct the employer-equivalent portion of your self-employment tax.
• If you moved for a new job and your pet did too, those pet relocation/shipping costs could be tax deductible as well. Be sure to check that your employment-related move meets IRS requirements.

HOME

• If you’re a homeowner, other tax deductions exist besides your mortgage interest. You can deduct state sales tax for building materials if you made improvements to your house and are itemizing your taxes.
• If you bought a new house, deduct the interest paid on your mortgage points. If you refinanced your mortgage, you may also be able to deduct the mortgage points.
• If you made energy-efficient improvements to your house, there is a Residential Energy Efficient Property Credit. It is a 30% tax credit for qualified solar electric systems and solar water heaters.

SCHOOL

• If you’re in school to get a graduate degree or improve your job skills, look into the Lifetime Learning Credit. File Form 8863 to claim the credit.
• If you are a parent and have a child/dependent whose student loan debt you’re paying off, you can deduct the interest you paid on these loans. If you are paying off your own student debt, your student loan lender should send you Form 1098-E and you can deduct the qualifying interest amount.

MEDICAL

• If you experienced hair loss due to a medical condition and your doctor recommended a wig, you might be able to deduct the wig as a medical tax deduction.
• If you paid for a pregnancy test, you can claim it in your medical tax deduction. If you had a baby, breast pumps and other supplies can be in medical deductions too.
• If you had breast cancer and needed reconstruction surgery, you may be able to deduct this cost in your medical expenses.
• If you had a disease that your doctor diagnosed and you participated in weight-loss programs to fight the disease, you can deduct that cost on your taxes.
• If you are trying to quit smoking and joined a smoking cessation program, you can look to deduct the fee as medical tax deduction. Prescription drugs that help with nicotine withdrawal can also be deducted.
• If you and your spouse work and you paid for childcare or care of a dependent so that you both could keep working, there is a child and dependent care credit.

OTHER

• If you took vacation to volunteer with “no significant element of personal pleasure, recreation or vacation in the travel,” and you were “on duty in a genuine and substantial sense throughout the trip,” your travel expenses could possibly be a charitable contribution deduction.
• If the state you live in doesn’t have an income tax, count up all the tax you’ve paid on different items for yourself or your household and deduct this tax. If you live in a state that does have income tax, claim that as a deduction unless you made some big purchases like a boat or car.