Listen here, kids: back in the day, music came on tapes! You had to carry each one you listened to and put them in a cassette player! And you liked it!

If you are both suffering from student loan debt and are not making too much money (what a rare case), you can deduct some of the interest you paid! But not too much.

You can deduct a maximum of $2,500, so if you paid more than than, you lose out.

Note: if you are married filing separately, this does not count. Sorry.

Even moving cannot be made easy by the IRS. If you move for full time work, at least 50 miles away from the distance you used to travel for work, you can deduct the expenses. Make sense? Of course not…the rules are awful.

Let’s say you used to work 5 miles from home. Your new job is 60 miles away, so you have to move. The difference between your old job and new job is 55 miles, more than the 50 mile difference the deduction requires. Thus, your expenses count.

Of course the IRS cares about teachers! That’s why a whopping $250 of self-bought supplies can be written off! If the school does not reimburse your (ha) for classroom items and you teach up to grade 12, you are eligible! This doubles for married teachers (2 teachers).

Haha, F for “farm!” Who says the IRS doesn’t have a sense of humor?

In the rare case that you actually own a farm and are a sole-proprietor, Schedule F is for you. If your farm is part of a larger corporation or share, this is not for you.

This…this is a loss…

Pensions and annuities, both in the realm of retirement money, are income. Do not try to hide this fact – you will get caught. There are some cases, however, when this money is not taxed. Namely, this happens when the money you contributed to the annuity/pension in the past, whether through direct contributions or paycheck withholdings, was already taxed! Anything that has not yet been taxed, including pensions that you never contributed to, should go in box 16b

If you are bad with money (doing your taxes should reveal this fairly quickly), this might be a good option. It guarantees part (or all) of your current refund to be applied to next year’s taxes. That way, if you end up having to pay, the money is there and you have not spent it.

However, if you are good with money, this is not a great option. Through sound investing and spending, you can use your return to make money. By the time the next tax season rolls around, you could have doubled your refund or not have to pay anything. That is just money wasted.

Put into more simple words, this is the amount of income tax you paid this year. Finding this is simple…

On the W-2, look in box 2:

On the 1099, look in box 4:

Don’t be afraid! This is not a random tax that the government charges you just because you work for yourself. Instead, it equates to the standard Social Security and Medicare taxes that everyone else pays. Since you are self-employed, it takes a bit more work to figure out the totals, but using Schedule SE (and attaching it – do not forget this!) makes it a simple formula.

If you do not qualify as a dependent of anyone (remember, they do not have to claim you – you only have to qualify to count) and see no reason to itemize your deductions, this is for you. Figure out your status and pen in the number next to your status.