What can I deduct from personal tax?

Question

I am a student that is 25 living in the state of Texas. I was wondering what I could deducted from my taxes to get the optimal refund.

I'm not married and do not have kids, I have a federal student loan for school, and dont own any property. Any advice or web sites you can direct me to would be greatly appreciated.

Also if I am taking online classes as well as classes on campus, can I deduct my internet as part of school?

I make 21K a year, and am not paying any intrest as of yet on my loans.

What other personal deductions can I add, for example can I add all my sales tax from my receipts as a deduction?

another question can I deduct mileage as well, from traveling to and from school and work?

Answer 1

You should see if you qualify for either the tuition and fees deduction or an education credit. You can take whichever saves you the most tax, but you cannot claim both. More information can be found at the IRS website.

Your internet service does not meet the definition of qualified educational expenses, so it cannot be used in the computations.

While qualified educational expenses must be reduced for grants and scholarships, student loans do not affect the computations. Additionally, if you are paying interest on your student loans currently you can take a deduction for that. The student loan interest deduction can be taken in addition to the tuition deduction or credit.

Answer 2

Since you are now 25, if you made more than $3400, your parents cannot claim you on their tax return.

This means at a minimum you will get both the standard deduction of $5350 and the personal exemption of $3400 to reduce your taxable income. If your income is low enough, you may be eligible for a few dollars of EIC (which starts at age 25 when you don't have kids).

Your student loan is not income, but it's not a deduction either unless you've begun to pay interest on it.

Your tuition can be either a deduction or a credit. Try the return both ways, though a credit is usually a better deal.

Internet expenses are not deductible.

Answer 3

Depending upon what year you're in in your educational pursuits you may be eligible for the Lifetime Learning Credit or the Hope Credit. If those are not available to you you may be able to take a partial deduction for tuition paid.

If you are currently paying on the student loans, some of the interest may be deductible.

You cannot deduct your internet access costs, even if they are required for your course work. Books, materials, etc. are only deductible if you are required to purchase them from the school. Most states prohibit such restrictions so that's unlikely to be the case.

Answer 4

you could no longer deduct the mileage occurring your place of employer, yet you could deduct the mileage which you employ previous that. Say to illustrate you reside 10 miles away out of your place of paintings and you used your automobile that day to habit employer totaling 50 miles, you've gotten the skill to deduct 30 miles. the entire pushed minus the gap between your place and paintings place vacationing there and homestead. My husband works shape and we pass with the aid of this each and every twelve months.

Answer 5

You can't deduct your internet even though you use it for school, and you can't deduct your mileage either.

There probably isn't much you can take other than your own $3400 exemption and the $5350 standard deduction.