It is said that only two things are inevitable in the world - death and taxes. The first really cannot be avoided, and the second can be fought. By learning how to plan your own tax steps, you can significantly reduce payments to the treasury of the Internal Revenue Service. This does not require any offshore bank accounts or special tax breaks. What are these steps?

Tax tactics are, as they say, a delicate matter. Where do I start?

First of all, there are types of income that are not taxed. For example, income from the sale of a house, if it is a house in which you yourself lived. Or money set aside from your paycheck for your child's college studies. By investing in municipal bonds, you also avoid taxes on the increase in their value. And you can save on treatment costs. To do this, you should open an expense account at work for medical needs, the funds for which come from your salary even before taxes are deducted from it.

What, in addition to tax-free income, can you use in your tax strategy?

Pay attention to tax benefits. This category has been chosen by the US Congress in recent years. So, in order to reduce air pollution, we are recommended to buy hybrid cars running on electricity and gasoline. Using such a car, you get a tax benefit. There are benefits for owners of homes in which the heating system runs on solar energy, or for those who use harmless insulation materials. Another benefit is related to the cost of keeping children in private nurseries and kindergartens for parents with low income.

You have the option to defer paying taxes for a whole year. Is it possible and necessary to take advantage of this?

"It is definitely possible," as the hero of one of the old Soviet films put it. Postponing the payment of taxes is like getting an interest-free loan from the state. For example, you received a bonus of 10 thousand dollars at work and must pay 3 thousand in taxes from this amount. But you have the right to pay them for the next year, not today. Thus, you seem to have at your disposal for a while an amount that you can use for your own needs. The same idea goes for contributions to retirement accounts, which are tax-free until you intend to cash them out.

What is the most common way to reduce taxes?

Perhaps the most famous is the write-off of taxes with the help of useful and necessary expenses. Owning his own business, he has a good idea of what is at stake. For example, if you buy and sell goods, then, of course, the costs of inventory, rental of commercial space, payment of salaries to employees, etc. By the way, in this case you have the choice to use the standard or individual calculation of the discount. Another familiar way of writing off concerns those who own residential real estate. You bought a house, pay the bank a percentage of the loan, pay property taxes to the local administration - can you write off these expenses? Absolutely.

What other ways to reduce taxes can you pay attention to?

As a topic for reflection and further action: state tax rates vary greatly depending on the type of income. For example, you as an "exploited" employee will be deducted taxes on a scale of about a third, while taxes on the income of an independent investor in securities will be half as low. Therefore, if you want to earn more and pay less for your practical activities, calculate what is more profitable in terms of tax rates.