In the second half of the tax estimate tips and tricks, find out how different kinds of deductibles and rates of taxation can affect your return in April.

7. Claim dividend income

Form 1099-DIV will determine whether or not your dividends from mutual funds qualify for the 15 percent tax rate or not. To figure out which dividends are paid from permissible resources and which ones are not, check the box “qualified”. Have you held shares on the dividends for 60 of the 121 days that are allotted? Make sure you complete this information in order to attain the dividends.

8. Capital gains and disaster loss

You may be able to avoid paying capital gains taxes by claiming gains with disaster losses. If your losses are greater than your gains, you are able to claim up to $3,000 to offset your income. This allows you to save your losses for future tax years.

9. Deduct car mileage for business use

You will need proof of costs if you wish to file under either the standard deduction or the itemized expenses method. If you have this proof, choose the method that will give you the greatest write-off. If you don’t have the proof, rely on the IRS standard mileage rate.

10. Small business tax deductions

If you bought depreciating items for your small business (i.e cell phones or computers) you may be able to write-off the expense of these business-benefiting items. There are different methods of depreciation, choose whichever one will give you the highest tax-return.

11. Give gifts

If you are contributing to a 529 plan, you can contribute up to $70,000 tax free and allocate the funds for 5 years. You can also git up to $14,000 ($28,000 for married couples) to as many individuals as you want within the year, and not have to file a gift-tax return.

12. Track retirement plan contributions

Max out your retirement plan contributions! If you have a 401(k) or another employer-based retirement plan (not a Roth) any amount of money that you contribute by the end of the year gives you a less taxable income. If you have a traditional IRA, your contributions are already tax-deductible, but any withdrawals will cost you in income taxes. A Roth IRA however allows for 100 percent tax-free withdrawals and you can even invest money after taxes are taken out. You have until April 15 to establish a traditional or Roth IRA for your 2015 taxes, and doing this sooner rather than later will allow you to reap more of the benefits.

13. Speed up deductions

The tax process can seem like such a drag, but moving up as many deductible expenses as you can. There is a chance this could be greatly beneficial to you, such as selling properties or cashing out investments. A few other ways to speed up your deduction process are donating more to charity, making January’s mortgage payment in December and prepaying your property taxes.

• Do not follow this strategy if you believe you will find yourself in a higher tax bracket for 2016 as the deductions could possibly benefit you more at that time. 

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