Schedule A generally allows you to subtract from your income the amounts you spent on medical care, other taxes, some interest payments, charitable gifts, casualty losses and even several miscellaneous expenses.

        The easiest way to reduce your tax bill is to reduce your taxable income. You don't have to take a pay cut to do this. You can use tax deductions.

        In the past, the General Accounting Office has found that filers who used the standard deduction instead of itemizing paid the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) almost $1 billion a year more than they should have.

        Instead of itemizing, most people chose to use the standard deduction. It is faster, thus easier to get their return done.

(Our government is run on a deficit, but I am pretty sure I chose not to help them pay it off. Let them learn how to manage cost better, that is what they'd tell another business or one of us.)

        There is a lot to itemizing, but in the long run it is worth it to you. Not everyone can, but everyone should see if they can. With that, this page is designed to guide you through the preparation of Form Schedule A (Itemized Deductions).

        The IRS allows each taxpayer a standard deduction amount based on filing status. Some individuals, however, find that they get a better tax break if they itemize their deductions. This means keeping track of your expenses, meeting some income thresholds and deductibility limits and filing Schedule A.

        You must file the long 1040 tax return to use Schedule A. This combination means that filing your taxes will take a while. But it also could mean more money in your pocket, instead of Uncle Sam's, when you're through.

        Be sure to enter your name, and your spouse's if you're filing jointly, at the top of the form. Also enter the main taxpayer Social Security number.

        Schedule A is divided into sections for the various deductions you're allowed. Let's go by the numbers in each section:

Let's see what you can itemize. (Use the new menu on the right)