Commonly Overlooked Tax Deductions

As the tax filing deadline approaches, taxpayers are always looking for legitimate tax deductions they may have overlooked. For example, did you know you can deduct the money your business spent to purchase office supplies during the year? As long as these expenses were for items that are ordinary and necessary to your business but for which you were NOT reimbursed, you can probably deduct them.

The following list shows the kinds of supplies that might be purchased by a firm during the normal course of operation:

Accounting, Business, and Legal Forms
Address Books/Binders
Appointment Books
Bill and Coin Wrappers
Bank Bags
Cash and Check Boxes
Legal and Note Pads
Counterfeit Detection Pens and Highlighters
Journals, Ledgers, and Organizers
Paper and Graph Paper
Paper Clips and Pens/Pencils
Petty Cash and Message Forms
Receipt, Record and Sales Books
Rulers, Scissors and Tape
Tax Forms
Other supplies used in your work

In addition, printing, duplicating and mailing expenses may also be deductible. Some small machines or equipment, such as bill counters, coin counters, calculators and similar tools used in your work, are possible deduction candidates as well.

In these examples, all of the expenses are for items used in a business in the regular performance of their employees’ duties. However, the deductions available are not limited to the supplies and services they need to do their jobs and pursue their careers. Business and individual taxpayers may also be able to deduct the costs of:

Treatment and care from a Chiropractor or Osteopath.
Contact lenses and/or glasses.
Health and long term care insurance premiums
Medical services, medicines and prescription drugs
Membership dues paid to a qualified charitable organization
Out-of-pocket expenses incurred while giving services to a qualified charitable organization
Mandatory contributions made to state benefit funds providing protection against loss of wages
Fees and charges that are expenses of your trade or business, or of producing income
Appraisal fees
Tax preparation fees
If you are self-employed, you may also be able to deduct half of the self employment taxes you have paid.

Always consult a professional tax preparer in order to make sure there aren’t other deductions you may be missing. It’s not about avoiding paying taxes, but you should make sure you take advantage of all legitimate opportunities to keep as much of your hard-earned cash as you can.

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We hope you found this article about “Commonly Overlooked Tax Deductions” helpful. If you have questions or need expert tax or family office advice that’s refreshingly objective (we never sell investments), please contact us or visit our Family office page or our website at www.GROCO.com. Unfortunately, we no longer give advice to other tax professionals gratis.

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Alan Olsen, CPA

Alan Olsen, is the Host of the American Dreams Show and the Managing Partner of GROCO.com. GROCO is a premier family office and tax advisory firm located in the San Francisco Bay area serving clients all over the world.

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Commonly Overlooked Tax Deductions