Top 10 Tax Deductions You May Not Be Taking

• Charitable Donations – Did you know you can deduct your cost of transportation to a charitable event or fundraiser?

• Home Office Deductions – if your self employed you can deduct expenses that employees cannot such as rent and utilities for your home office. This can also include magazines and member  organization fees in your selected business field.

• Refinance your home – You can deduct interest and any loan points on the refinance.Health insurance – you can deduct the cost of health insurance premiums that surpass 10% of your adjusted gross income even if you are covered by an employers plan. For the self-employed the 10% threshold for insurance premiums is removed.

• Tax planning and investment expenses - Tax planning and investment expenses can be deducted if you itemize and the costs exceed 2% of your adjusted gross income. Investment expenses could include phone calls to your broker or even subscriptions to financial publications like Forbes and Fortune.

• Working Parents - Parents who work and leave their children with a caregiver are eligible for a tax credit to offset the cost of a baby sitter, day care, nursery school or preschool. Limitations on the credit include the age of the child and the percentage of the credit.

• Making a move - Lucky enough to find a new job, but find that it’s in the next state? You can deduct what you spend packing and moving your belongings as well some costs for storage, insurance, transportation and lodging associated with the move. There’s no limit to the deduction, but your new job must be at least 50 miles farther from your home than your old job.

• Working 9 to 6 - For most people, the costs they incur heading to and from work every day are not deductible. For part-time workers, however, if you work two jobs, you can deduct a portion of the costs of getting from one job to the other.

• Teacher expenses - Educators, including K-12 teachers, teacher aides, instructors or principals, can get an above-the-line tax deduction for materials they buy for use in classrooms. Because it’s an above-the-line deduction, itemizing isn’t required for this deduction.

• Disaster Recovery - If your home was struck by a natural disaster for which federal aid was issued, you could be eligible to deduct uninsured costs you paid in getting your life back together.