Deducting your state income tax vs. state sales tax

The change in the law means you now have the choice between deducting your state income tax vs. your state sales tax. No matter what you choose, however, you have to first decide to itemize your deductions. Instead of going through the process of itemizing your deductions, the IRS gives you the opportunity to take a pre-determined deduction from your taxable income, based on your income level and state of residence. According to the IRS, most people will simply chose the pre-determined number - as many as 66% of all tax payers take the easy way out. For some people, the pre-determined numbers is going to be the better choice. A lot of the people who choose the pre-determined deductions, however, are doing so for the sake of simplicity. Plan ahead and make sure you are picking the best option before signing on for the pre-determined deductions.

The ability to deduct amounts paid in state sales tax could significantly lower the amount of money you end up paying in income tax, or at least lower than what you would pay under the pre-determined deductions. This ability is particularly important if you live in one of the few states - Wyoming, Washington South Dakota, Tennessee, Florida, Texas and Nevada - where there is no state income tax. Previously, if you were a resident of this state you could not claim any state tax deductions. Now, thanks to the new rules, if you are a resident of one of these lucky states you can now claim their state sales tax to reduce their taxable income on their US tax forms. When will you be better off deducting your state sales tax? If you have made any significant purchases - such as a car, a boat, an airplane, luxury items or major events such as a wedding - the sales tax you paid last year could be more than you paid in state income taxes.

Save your receipts!

The most important thing to get your finances in order is to start planning for tax time now. The ability to deduct amounts paid for state sales tax will only be useful if you have the receipts to back your itemizations up. Make sure you hold on to receipts for your expensive items, and fight the natural instinct to take the easy way out and select the pre-determined deduction. If you have paid a lot of state sales tax in the US, this is your chance to pay less tax to the federal government.