Tax Time: Drilling for Deductions

Before you send your tax return to the IRS, make sure you didn't overlook any deductions. Every year, taxpayers forget at least a few. Here are some of the most common ones from the Ernst & Young Tax Guide 2006:

Investment advisory fees: You can deduct investment fees, custodial fees, trust-administration fees and any other expenses that you paid to manage investments that produce taxable income. You can even deduct safe-deposit box rent if you use the box to store taxable income like producing stocks, bonds or investment-related papers and documents.

Planning to move? Did you make any improvements that added to the value of your house or adapted it to new uses? Make sure you add the cost of those improvements to the "basis" (the value of your house when you bought it or built it) of your property because that could give you a tax break when you sell it and have to determine gain or loss. Necessary repairs aren't deductible, so be careful.

Job-search expenses: Expenses for career counseling are deductible if you incur them to find other employment in the same trade or business.

The tax man: You can deduct fees for tax-preparation services including tax-software programs and tax publications. Go to irs.gov for more information.

© 2006