Tax Write – Offs You May Not Know About

Taxes are a royal pain in the ass and, it's almost time for you to pay yours.

You can't stop Uncle Sam from sticking his hand in your pocket but, you can keep a few more dollars with these handy, not so well known, tax write offs.

• Sales tax vs. state tax. Our New Mexico neighbors pay a state tax which they can deduct. Here in Texas, we don't have that issue but we CAN deduct all the sales tax we pay on things. There are other state taxes you can deduct.
• Donating yourself. Just as you can deduct charitable cash donations, you can also deduct your time and efforts. Hear that local locos? Next time you play a charity gig, write those guitar strings off! (Don't forget to claim gas expenses and mileage related to charity events.)
• There are lots of military reservists around the Borderland. If you're one, and you travel over 100 miles to do your duty, you can write off gas, hotels, food, etc...
• Your hobbies. Painting, playing guitar, model trains; you can write expenses related to these things off as long as you don't make any money at them.

There are a bunch more, these are just some of the weird ones you might not think about. The April 15th deadline is just a few weeks away. For best results, hire a pro to do your taxes for you.