Am I forced to take the standard deduction???
by Mortgage Rates on Thursday, November 4th, 2010 | 3 Comments
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1. I don’t know.
2. No, he can’t claim your deductions. Nor can you claim his.
3. Don’t lie. If your don’t have receipts, you can’t claim the charity deductions. People trying to pad their deductions is a common abuse and the IRS is cracking down on it.
Why would you care if you have to take the standard deduction if it is to your benefit? However, maybe the following can help you.
When there are more than one owner of a home with a mortgage unless the parties are filing married filing jointly the mortgage interest and real estate taxes are deducted according to the percentage each party pays.
I doubt the clothes/furniture, etc you donated are worth a 750.00 deduction. You can only deduct the fair market value meaning what a person would pay for the item as it is. Read publication 526 to avoid any trouble with the IRS.
Did you have any uncovered medical, dental, eyeglass expense? The expense will have to be over 7.5% of your AGI.
Did you pay to have your tax return prepared last year, if yes, you can deduct what you paid.
Did you purchase a vehicle, boat, offroad vehicle, RV if so include the sales tax to see if the sales tax will then beat the income tax paid.
Did you have any unreimbursed employee expense?
I can’t think of any think else, but read Schedule A and see what may apply to your situation.
Whose name is on the mortgage? Do you have a joint checking account? If his name is only on the mortgage he gets the mortgage/tax credit, even if a joint account. Only the amount of medical receipts that is above 7.5% of your income is deductible( you must subtract medical less than 7.5% from your total). Your donations must be itemized with each individual item priced (at about 10-20% of initial cost-”thrift store value”). Any donations claimed over $500 must now be appraised.**vb is 100% correct with the donations you have to be careful. I would take the standard deduction and not worry about it!