Looking ahead to the filing season for this year’s tax returns, a frequent question is whether you should keep track of tax-deductible expenditures or simply settle for the standard deduction amount.

Whether you can itemize deductions on your tax return depends on how much you spent on certain expenses during the year. Money paid for medical care, mortgage interest, taxes, charitable contributions, casualty losses and miscellaneous deductions (usually job or investment related) can reduce your taxes. If the total amount spent on those categories is more than the standard deduction, you can usually benefit by itemizing.

The standard deduction amounts are based on your filing status, your age and whether or Read More