Taxes standard or itemized?

[JT12345]

Ok,

I am married. Fly mostly domestic. We will get a standard deduction of $10,200. This year. I own a home, and will have about 10k in interest. 2 kids as dependants. No investment loses or gains. Should I itemized my deductions or take the standard? Is it worth it to itemized for domestic perdiem only? Isn't perdiem included in the standard deduction of $10,200?

Do most of you guys itemize?

 

[NCFlyer]

If you search you can find several threads about pilots & taxes.

Each person's situation is different, however I have found that most people will not exceed the standard deduction allowance without a mortgage interest deduction. If you itemize you can deduct many things, state & local taxes, gifts to charities, property taxes on real estate and other tangible property (cars, boats, airplanes), just to name a few, the list is to extensive to include in this forum.

When figuring your taxes you will have to decide on whether to take the standard deduction $10,200 or do you want to itemize your deductions. If you decide to itemize, per diem is 1 of the business expenses that you will include on form 2106. Don't forget that other un-reimbursed business expenses are deductible as well, FAA physicals, union dues, luggage, uniforms, etc......

For myself I had a total per diem deduction of $1675 for last year, no international travel.

I would suggest that you get one of the home tax prep packages, or use the on-line version, go through the complete interview process and it will tell you which would be the most advantageous for you. Use 1 of the basic versions and then if you decide that you need the upgraded version you can upgrade right within the package itself.

Good luck,

 

[Fly2Scuba]

NCFlyer has great advice. Just to add to it, with your $10000 mortgage interest, most definitely yes by far it would be worth your time to itemize. Interest is the big one, then add in state income tax and property taxes as deductions. Add in the per diem difference, union dues, percentage of cellphone charges and internet charges and it's starting to add up well above the standard deduction. FAA medicals, Car tabs, job search expenses, uniform items, flight case and anything in there. Any money you donated to charity in the form of cash or goods or any expenses while volunteering such as meals and mileage. There are probably more deductions I'm forgetting. Even "regional" FOs with no mortgage may exceed the standard deduction because of all the deductions out there.

In the future, keep an excel file of even a notepad record throughout the year of deductible expenses. It's financially worth your time to read the pdf files on the IRS website that discuss the various deductions. Your best bet for now would probably be to seek out an aviation tax specialist and have them guide you through the process. You'll more then make up for their fees in the amount of your refund.

 

[JT12345]

Thanks.

 

[NCFlyer]

Sorry my bad,

I didn't realize that the 10k was mortgage interest. With that much interest deduction you won't have any trouble coming up with more than the $10,200 standard deduction. Even if you live in a state with no state income tax I'm sure that your property taxes are over $200.

 

[regionalcap]

The state income tax is deductable too (or sales tax, whichever is higher). Each kid is a $3600 deduction on his exemptions plus you get the child tax credit. I am by far no expert in taxes, but he is probably looking at closer to a $20,000 deduction overall.You are going to miss out on quite a bit of refund money if you don't itemize. I fly mostly domestic too and had a $2200 per diem deduction last year. This doesn't include my other employee expenses (dues, uniforms, etc.). I highly recommend using one the of pilot tax websites to do your taxes.

 

[Flying Ninja]

Be sure to keep all your receipts as proof for your charitable donations and other itemized items. Keep these records for 7 years. It'll make the auditing go a lot faster.

 

[Prop2Jet]

Can I lease a kid so I can get a deduction?

 

[ReverseSensing]

Can I lease a kid so I can get a deduction?

There's gotta be some kind of deduction available for caring for your retarded, puking kitty.