Common Tax Deductions

Looking for a Credit Card for Christmas Shopping? Before you submit a credit card application, first review the main points which will help you choose the right credit card for your needs.

What Charges You'll Make - If you're going to use the credit card mainly for booking airline reservations and hotels, it might be best for you to get a travel credit card that offers sky miles and hotel points or cashback. If this will be an emergency credit card only, then your main concern may be for a low interest rate credit card with low fees.

When You'll Repay Charges - Will you pay off credit card charges in full every month, or will you carry a balance month to month? If you're going to carry a balance, you want the lowest possible interest rate as well as a low introductory rate. But if you'll payoff balances in full every month, then interest rate really doesn't matter so no annual fee and/or a long grace period would be a bigger concern. If you're going to carry a balance, be concerned about how the finance charge is calculated. The most common method is the Average Daily Balance, which means that the daily balances are added together and then divided by the number of days in the billing cycle. Stay away from credit cards that compute the balance using two billing cycles, as this method costs more money in financing fees.

What Amount You'll Charge - If you're going to use the credit card for all your monthly expenses, then you need a card that has a high credit limit and a high cashback percentage.

More info about Interest Rates, Credit Limits, Incentives, Fees and Penalties

Interest Rates - The interest rate (Annual Percentage Rate) APR can either be a fixed rate or a variable rate that is tied to another financial indicator, most commonly the prime rate. With a fixed rate credit card you know what the interest rate will be every month, whereas a card with a variable rate can fluctuate. Of course, even the interest of a fixed rate card can change based on certain events, such as paying your credit card bill late, exceeding your limit, or simply because the credit card issuer decides to change it after providing you ample advance notice.

Credit Limit - This is the amount of money the credit card company will let you charge to the card. This amount varies depending upon the card offer and your credit history. Be sure to get a credit card with an ample limit, because getting close to your max can hurt your credit score. Just remember that you don't have to max out your limit just because it's available.

Incentives - To compete for and to gain customers, many credit card companies offer rewards. Even if you normally use cash, why not use your credit card and then use the cash to make the payment during the grace period? You still won't pay interest and meanwhile you'll rack-up rewards. A credit card with 5% cashback will earn you $5 for every $100 charged. If your total bills come to $2,000 per month, you'll earn a free $100 every month. Look for a rewards program that you'll use and which offers flexibility, such as cashback or travel.

Fees and Penalties - Compare common charges such as late fees, overlimit fees, balance transfers, cash advances, and for making payments by telephone. Regarding balance transfers, look for credit card offers with no transaction fees and zero percent interest for at least 12 months.

Affiliate Program

» Articles » News » Common Tax Deductions

Credit Federal

Personal loan and credit card resource serving millions of good and bad credit U.S. consumers.

View all news by Credit Federal...

Common Tax Deductions

By Credit Federal | Published 02/20/2009

Do you have enough deductions to itemize instead of just taking the standard deduction allowed? If you are not sure, be prepared with your documentation involving mortgage interest, real estate tax, mortgage insurance premiums, and loan interest and your tax accountant give you the facts. You may do better to itemize and it may be worth your time to gather your information.

For medical deductions the information you need is how much have you spent on doctors, medications, and hospitals. Other items include health insurance, eyeglasses or contact lens, hearing aids, and there may be other items for disabled persons that can be deducted.
Charitable contributions like cash or property, household items, autos, securities donated to charities that qualify, church giving.
Damages or loss from a fire, theft, or storm and was not reimbursed to you.
Don�t forget to list expenses like safe deposit boxes, investments, tax preparation, and certain legal fees. There may be adjustments or rules relating to these and your preparer will know how these deductions will apply.
Out-of-pocket expenses relating to a job may be deductable like travel expenses, uniforms, and moving expenses due to a new job location.
Educational expenses like student loan interest, tuition, and fees for qualified higher education expenses.
For military reservists, there may be deductions for unreimbursed travel for more than 100 miles from home and overnight stays.
Contributions to IRA�s, this is up to $5,000 or $6,000 if age 50 or older.
Contributions to Health Savings Accounts and Alimony paid.
Contributions to retirement plans, such as SEPs and SIMPLE plans.
For those how own a business, there are expenses like advertising, auto expenses, employee plans, retirement plans, office expenses, legal expenses, insurances, professional expenses, and these are just a few. Ask your accountant about other deductions.

Share this Financial Article with a Friend - click here

Webmasters: Free Financial Content for Your Website!

Multiple ways to use our financial content:

1) You can use our RSS Feeds for automatic insertion and updates

2) You can simply link to this article

3) You can copy/paste the HTML code below (do not remove any links).

Common Tax Deductions - by <a href=http://creditfederal.com>CreditFederal.com</a> <div style="text-align: left; font-family: Verdana;">Do you have enough deductions to itemize instead of just taking the standard deduction allowed? If you are not sure, be prepared with your documentation involving mortgage interest, real estate tax, mortgage insurance premiums, and loan interest and your tax accountant give you the facts. You may do better to itemize and it may be worth your time to gather your information. <ul><li>For medical deductions the information you need is how much have you spent on doctors, medications, and hospitals. Other items include health insurance, eyeglasses or contact lens, hearing aids, and there may be other items for disabled persons that can be deducted.</li><li>Charitable contributions like cash or property, household items, autos, securities donated to charities that qualify, church giving.</li><li>Damages or loss from a fire, theft, or storm and was not reimbursed to you.</li><li>Don�t forget to list expenses like safe deposit boxes, investments, tax preparation, and certain legal fees. There may be adjustments or rules relating to these and your preparer will know how these deductions will apply.</li><li>Out-of-pocket expenses relating to a job may be deductable like travel expenses, uniforms, and moving expenses due to a new job location.</li><li>Educational expenses like student loan interest, tuition, and fees for qualified higher education expenses.</li><li>For military reservists, there may be deductions for unreimbursed travel for more than 100 miles from home and overnight stays.</li><li>Contributions to IRA�s, this is up to $5,000 or $6,000 if age 50 or older.</li><li>Contributions to Health Savings Accounts and Alimony paid.</li><li>Contributions to retirement plans, such as SEPs and SIMPLE plans.</li><li>For those how own a business, there are expenses like advertising, auto expenses, employee plans, retirement plans, office expenses, legal expenses, insurances, professional expenses, and these are just a few. Ask your accountant about other deductions.</li></ul></div> This article provided courtesy of <a href=http://creditfederal.com target=_new>www.CreditFederal.com</a>, a personal credit resource of good or bad credit credit cards and loans.

Credit Tip: Need a high limit for Christmas credit card charges? If you have bad credit, consider a personal loan by refinancing your mortgage. Even if you have cash to buy Christmas presents, we recommend using a prepaid card to make purchases because it's safer than carrying cash.