10 ways to cut your 2009 taxes now [7-10]

Pay college bills: the stimulus has also improved the tax breaks to pay the bills in college. The new American Opportunity credit replaces the Hope credit for 2009 and 2010. It increases the size of the maximum credit from $ 1,800 to $ 2,500. The income limits for qualifying have increased, too - from $ 58,000 to 90,000 dollars if you are single and $ 116,000 to $ 180,000 if you are married filing jointly.

You can claim the American Opportunity credit, the first four years of college (and not just the first two years, as was the case of the Hope credit).

The money used to pay for college from a 529 savings account or Coverdell education-(two of which can be used for tax-free accounts of the college) do not count toward the American Opportunity credit. You need to pay at least $ 4,000 in tuition, fees and course materials such as textbooks, from a source other than a 529 or Coverdell to qualify for full credit.

Giving to charity: You can write off charitable contributions, if you list your deductions. But people often struggle at the end of December to decide which organizations support. Now is a good time to start thinking about who should benefit from his generosity.

When the timing of their charitable contributions for the year, do not forget to count gifts of money, and enjoy photos and noncash donations. You can also include out of pocket costs to help a charity, such as 14 cents per mile in transportation costs to do charity work or the cost of ingredients for a casserole for you to make a soup profit organization profit.

Tax Max out the self-employed: If you are self employed or have just a little freelance income, do not forget to take advantage of tax benefits.

You will be able to deduct the cost of the equipment you use in your business, such as a computer, printer, fax and copier, and a dedicated phone line, office supplies, business travel and advertising. You may even be able to deduct a portion of your rent or mortgage, property insurance and utilities if you have a home office personnel.

You can also make tax deductible contributions to a retirement plan for self-employed as a simplified employee pension, or a solo 401k, and may deduct their premiums for health insurance if you are not eligible for health insurance an employer or their spouse's employer. (You can not deduct more than the net profit of your business.)

Keep track of medical expenses: As you mentioned, incur large medical expenses can result in a bill to lower tax. But it can be difficult to get much of a break for medical expenses.

Do you qualify for the tax break only if you list your deductions, and you can recoup the cost only if it exceeds 7.5% of your adjusted gross income.

This means that if you are earning $ 50,000 a year, you can deduct out-of-pocket medical expenses, and $ 3750. If you have $ 5,000 of qualified costs, you're left with a deduction of only $ 1,250. But even if the partial deduction can make a difference. If you are in the range of 25%, a deduction of $ 1250 can reduce their tax bill of $ 313.

Keep receipts of money spent on medical expenses on your tax file throughout the year, because you might end up with a surprisingly large deduction if you have a medical emergency or a major expense that is not covered by insurance, such as fertility treatments, orthodontics, laser surgery eye or any other experimental medical procedures that your insurer will not cover.