Missed Deductions

Most taxpayers who don't use thestandard deduction remember to writeoff the big deductions, like propertytaxes, home mortgage interest, and charitabledonations. But there's a whole arrayof deductions that are often forgotten.These write-offs are usually lumpedunder miscellaneous deductions, and theymust add up to more than 2% of youradjusted gross income (AGI) before youcan take anything off. Investment expensesare a good example of the kind ofdeduction that can be used. If you pay forbooks, magazines, or investment newslettersto help you invest, you can put thosecosts into a miscellaneous deductionbucket with expenses like the cost of asafe deposit box used for investment-relatedmaterial. Add other costs, likethose related to preparing your taxes, andthen deduct any amount that's more than2% of your AGI. For more information,visit the IRS Web site (www.irs.gov).