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Mortgage Interest Deduction Can Save Taxpayers Big
Believe it or not, home owners frequently don’t
itemize deductions and as a result, they could be overpaying their federal
taxes by as much as $1 billion a year.
The Government Accountability Office, the research arm of Congress, reports
that about 2.2 million home owners last year took the standard deduction on
their tax returns rather than itemizing deductions. They paid $945 million
more in federal taxes than needed. Home owners may not think they have
enough write-offs to overcome the standard deduction. But if their mortgages
are large or fairly new, they're probably wrong, says Larry Cox, owner of
several Jackson Hewitt Tax Service franchises in the Denver area.
Why overlook this government gift? Some do-it-yourself taxpayers find
itemizing deductions daunting; others may not have enough deductions to
offset the increasingly generous standard deduction, speculated CPA Robert
Burke of Jacksonville, Fla.
Source: Denver Post |
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