From the course: Personal Finance Tips Weekly

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Tax prep: Finding money at tax time

Tax prep: Finding money at tax time

From the course: Personal Finance Tips Weekly

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Tax prep: Finding money at tax time

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- It's almost tax time. And before you send off your return make sure you check to see if you can take advantage of all the tax benefits offered to you. First of all, some lingo. Almost all tax systems have something called a standard deduction. This is a dollar amount that governments set for all tax filers and allows you to reduce your taxable income by that set amount. At the same time, some governments allow you to claim deductions for things like education expenses, mortgage interest, medical expenses, and childcare. The key here is figuring out which amount is larger for you. If you add up all of your allowable deductions and it's larger than the standard deduction, then file an itemized tax return and take advantage of the larger itemized deduction. If your itemized deductions are lower than the standard deduction, then just claim the standard deduction. It'll save you a ton of work. And this is particularly relevant in the US, because starting in 2018, the standard deduction…

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