Who is eligible to write off expenses for personal taxes?

Question

What qualifies a person for this treatment? Income level, the form you use to file, the nature of your revenues or expenses, holding...?

Answer 1

First off, the expense must be a deductible one in the first place. Such items as home mortgage interest, property taxes, medical expenses (subject to a 7.5% AGI limitation), charitable contributions, unreimbursed employee business expenses, among others are deductible.

You must itemize your deductions to claim them. If the total is less than your standard deduction then it's not worth doing it.

You must actually pay the expense, and for most of them be legally liable for the expense.

To claim deductions you must file Form 1040 and attach Schedule A.

Answer 2

Everyone is eligible for certain deductions, such as medical expenses, certain moving expenses, mortgage interest, state and local taxes, etc., but for most people it is not worth it to itemize these deductions, because the standard deduction gives you just as much. If you are talking about deducting business expenses, generally this is not available unless you own a business.

Answer 3

The answer may depend on what you mean by "personal taxes". But generally the issue is whether you will be taking standard deductions or itemized deduction. Only those who itemize their deduction (ie: calculate what deductible expenses they had rather than taking a standard amount based on their filing status) can "write off" any taxes.