I was told to keep sales receipt's. A friend told me i can use them when i file for income taxes.?

Question

So far i have saved every single receipt since i filed for my income tax return last year since a friend had told me i could use them for a tax return. I was talking to my co-worker today and she wasent sure about it so i thought i would ask here. If i can get a tax return off my receipt how dose it work do i just take the receipt to the tax place or what? Any help would be great.

Well a few of my friends told me that last year when they filed thier tax returns that this year ppl would be abel to get a return off anything taxed if they had the sales receipt. Where can i go and research this to get a 100% accurate answer? Perhaps a link to the IRS or goverment related with this information? Thanks.

Im from kentucky if that helps.

Answer 1

Yes it works but only if its work related.
If you work or a company that makes you drive to different places and you need to fill up the tank often, you can use them.
Also if you bought a house and you are renting it out.
Eveything that you bought to repair it and agian the gas you used will work too.
Also if you are a student full time you can save receipts on all supplys for school and turn them in.
But you also have to talk to your tax person, some people are very different. My tax person I go to is different to my bf. He got money back for his school supplies and I didnt.
Guess where I going this year.
<3Lala

Answer 2

For the last few years, if you itemize you have had the choice of deducting state and local taxes, or sales tax. People who live in places that don't have state income tax, or people who didn't owe any, often came out better by deducting sales tax. I haven't heard that's been extended to this year, but Congress still hasn't finalized things, so it might be.

There is a table you can use that depends on income, state and family size that will give you a flat amount you can use - if you add up all of your receipts and it comes to a higher total, you can use that instead. If you bought a car, plane, or boat during the year, you can add the sales tax on those purchases to the amount in the table if you use the table.

If you are thinking about doing this, I'd suggest that you add up all the sales tax before you go to the tax preparer - if they have to do it, your costs will go up a lot and you'll be there next to forever.

IF congress extends this, and IF you itemize, and IF your sales tax deduction is more than your state and local taxes, then you'd save at most the amount of the deduction times your tax bracket. So if you had $1200 in sales tax paid (note this is the TAX, not the total on the receipt that includes the cost of the item) and you're in a 15% bracket, your tax savings could be as much as $180. You aren't likely to save much by adding up all your receipts though, than if you just used the table.

Answer 3

It sounds as if you are talking about sales taxes you have paid throughout the year. If you itemize deductions on your Federal income tax return you may deduct either state income taxes paid or state sales taxes paid but not both. If your state has an income tax, you'd probably be better off with the income tax deduction.

If you elect to take the sales tax deduction you may either use the table included with the Schedule A&B instructions or the amount that you can prove you have paid through receipts, etc. Even if you take the table amount, you may add the tax for big-ticket purchases such as a car, boat, aircraft, RV that you paid during the year.

You only get benefit from this if you itemize your deductions. That's only worthwhile if your total itemized deductions exceed the standard deduction amount for your filing status. If you're a single taxpayer, your standard deduction is $5,360 for 2007. For most taxpayers unless you are a homeowner paying a mortgage you won't have enough itemized deductions to make it worthwhile to itemize. Other things that you can itemize include charitable donations, unreimbursed medical expenses that exceed 7.5% of your AGI and certain miscellaneous deductions such as tax prep fees and employee business expenses that exceed 2% of your AGI.

Itemized deductions only reduce your taxable income, you do not get all of those back. And only the amount that exceeds your standard deduction is of any value to you. For example, if you are a single taxpayer and have $6,350 in itemized deductions, only the $1,000 above your standard deduction will benefit you. If you are in a 15% tax bracket, it would reduce your tax by $150. If you are in a 25% tax bracket, it would reduce your tax by $250.

Answer 4

in TX you can get a portion of sales tax refunded or use the standard deduction which ever is higher.

Table 1
Citizens in Nine States Are Denied
Fair and Equitable Tax Treatment
Because They Have No State Income Tax

Alaska New Hampshire* Texas
Florida South Dakota Washington
Nevada Tennessee* Wyoming

* Certain interest and dividend income is taxed.
Source: Carole Keeton Rylander, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts.

The Comptroller's plan would grant taxpayers in all states the option of deducting either their state and local sales and motor vehicle sales taxes or their state and local individual income taxes on their Form 1040

Answer 5

If you itemize, you can deduct sales taxes paid on schedule A, BUT if you take the sales tax deduction, you can't take the state and local income tax deduction.

Even if you didn't have the receipts, you could deduct the sales tax; they offer a chart based on your income on how much you can deduct.

Answer 6

Yes you do get taxes back. The Sales Tax Deduction Calculator of the IRS is here: http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=152421,00.html