How To Get Free Clothing For Your Family

Each year there are many people dissatisfied with their tax returns. They have spent all year working hard and paying their dues, only to discover their return showing a negative rather than the expected two or three thousand dollars.

There are many ways to reverse this trend, legally of course; and as simple as it is, few people spend the small amount of time educating themselves to maximize their returns. These are the people who complain the loudest.

Using An Itemized Deduction Schedule As A Shopping List:

An odd statement, but as this season's tax preparation season drew near, one had to be quick to notice the TV advertisements regarding the donation of clothing. It was not televised more than a handful of times on the local channels in this particular community, but if one has visited the IRS website to search for such things, or make repeated calls to them with a barrage of questions then you will know like I do that is it possible to make quite a good deal here and there.

Since it is the done thing in this tax paying home, I felt the need to share how I wear brand name jeans and how I get them for free. When purchasing clothing in a large department store it is possible to pick out a lovely pair of brand name jeans under $20, or better. If you visit the websites of such stores you will locate bargains you just can't obtain by being there in person. A large discount clothing store can advertise a pair of jeans for $19.99, while online at their own website you can purchase them for around $13.00, sometimes even less. It is the latter I seek for reasons about to become obvious. And by the way, never mind the shipping and handling cost- you can pick up your items in store having ordered them online, and still get the online price while you walk past people at the checkout paying the full price.

Mid last year I bought 10 pairs of jeans at once, at a large outdoor summer market - with tax season in mind. It all starts with possessing a "black belt in shopping" in the first instance. They cost me $5.00 per pair because I was bold enough to ask for the discount rate since I was buying such a great number of them.

Let's do some rough math now;

-10 pairs at $5.00 per pair, total -$50.00. Money I had in hand after it was taxed.

-I wore each pair of jeans approximately 6-8 times each over the course of the next few months. Then, I washed and ironed them and headed off to a local charity and made my donation as tax season approached.

-When preparing our taxes, I itemized my donation at the prescribed standard deduction rate of $12.00 per pair - $120.00

-Having removed this $120 from my total taxable income, I was then not liable to have paid tax on it -assuming a rate of 30% for the purpose of the exercise, or $36.00

I have now been able to make a quality donation to someone who needed clothing, deducted $120 from my taxable income, worn nice new jeans for the past four months - and as a result now had a lower income to show and a bigger tax return due to me. After reading this you may see a need to twist the numbers somewhat, and I'm not an accountant, however, it does work and I banked a check to prove it. There were more items than jeans which were donated and some of them were deductible at a much higher rate than I had even paid for them. After figuring the cost of each purchase from my receipts, I was delighted to find I had actually made money for the year from giving the family's clothes away! I took that money and went shopping for our new wardrobe.

Make sure you look at your itemized deduction rates before you shop. You can buy quality clothing, save, money, make money and best of all, help others who need you.