Submitted by sea_dev t3_11dfuls in dataisbeautiful
Belnak t1_ja8tl07 wrote
The standard deduction is what the government expects someone making the median income to have as legitimate non-taxable expenses. If you're making >$300k, your legitimate deductions are likely multiple times that amount. Talk to a tax lawyer (not an accountant). It hurts to see someone just voluntarily forking over their rightful income to the government. If you're doing it out of benevolence, there are likely charities that directed contributions to can provide far more efficient use of the funds.
tristanjones t1_ja9ebfz wrote
Making more money doesnt really mean you'll have more deductions. There arent too many deductions someone who isnt close to retirement would likely be taking. If you have student loans, alimony, and a mortgage, or also some kids, then it could add up, but you dont have to be making a lot of money for most of those to be true. Even with some mortgages with the low interest rates until recently, the standard deduction may be more in some cases.
sea_dev OP t1_ja8xpbl wrote
Schedule A is the form you use to figure out your itemized deductions, I worked through all of that and it was less than the standard deduction. The real limiting factor is that state and local taxes are capped at $10k. If I had made more charitable donations, I would have been able to have more deductions, but at the end of the day, that's still more money out of my pocket.
EDIT: Only medical expenses over 7.5% of your income is deductible and the interest I pay on my home isn't enough to eclipse the standard deduction.
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