Every filing season we amend returns for people who did their own — and nearly every amendment comes from the same short list. None of these are aggressive positions. They are ordinary deductions that get missed because nobody sends you a form for them.
1. State sales tax, when it beats income tax
If you itemize, you choose between deducting state income tax or state sales tax — not both. In a state with no income tax, sales tax is the obvious choice, and a large purchase in the year (a vehicle, a boat, a major renovation) can push the sales-tax figure well past the table amount. Keep the receipt for anything big.
2. Out-of-pocket charitable costs
Most people remember the cash and the donated clothing. Fewer remember the mileage driven for volunteer work, the ingredients bought for a charity event, or the uniform required by the organisation. Those count. Keep a simple log with dates and purposes.
3. Educator expenses
Teachers, aides, counsellors and principals who work at least 900 hours in a school year can deduct classroom supplies they paid for themselves, above the line — meaning you do not have to itemize to claim it. Protective equipment and professional development courses count too.
4. Student loan interest paid by someone else
If a parent pays a loan that is legally the child’s, and the child is no longer claimed as a dependent, the child is treated as having received the money and paid the interest. The deduction belongs to the borrower, and it is regularly left unclaimed.
5. Self-employed health insurance
Premiums for you, your spouse and your dependents are deductible against self-employment income, above the line, including dental and qualifying long-term care. This is separate from the medical expense itemized deduction and much easier to actually use.
6. Home office, done properly
The rule is regular and exclusive use for business. A corner of the dining table does not qualify; a room, or a clearly defined part of one, can. The simplified method gives a flat rate per square foot up to a cap, and takes about a minute to compute. The actual-expense method takes longer and is often worth more — run both.
7. Prior-year state tax paid this year
If you wrote a cheque last April for the previous year’s state balance due, that payment is deductible on this year’s return, in the year you paid it. It appears on no form. You have to remember it.
What to do with this list
Read it against your own year and mark anything that might apply. If two or three do, and you filed without them, an amended return is usually worth filing — you generally have three years from the original due date to claim a refund.
Want this reviewed against your own return?
Bring last year’s return to a consultation and we will tell you, plainly, whether anything on this page applies to you.
