It is no surprise to any working farrier that the daily costs of running a footcare practice will amount to enormous yearly expenses. The United States’ Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recognizes that running a business can be expensive, and allows deductions of business expenses on income tax returns. These legitimate deducted expenses will not be taxed as income. Many small business owners miss many allowable tax deductions due to not being aware of them, being too rushed due to last minute frantic tax filing and/or having an unqualified tax preparer.

Income tax deductions can greatly reduce your taxable income and can be useful strategies for reducing your U.S. federal income tax. Some deductions can be claimed directly on the income tax form, while other deductions can be claimed only if you itemize your income taxes. In the U.S., there are two ways to file your deductions on an income tax form. First, you can file using the standard deduction, which is the amount that the IRS establishes annually for each taxpayer and your filing status. The other way is to itemize your deductions if you have expenses that will produce a larger tax break.

Here is a list of legal and often overlooked tax deductions listed by the IRS. Included are some personal deductions that also are commonly overlooked:

• Casualty and theft losses from automobile accidents.
• Casualty and theft losses to replace tree and shrub damage by storms
• or fires.
• Health care premiums.
• Medicare premiums and supplemental Medicare policies can…