Toilet Duck is UNINFORMED and DANGEROUS. Most of his advise is false, and other parts are misleading.

1. Per diem: The only shred of truth I saw. You can deduct the difference between the per diem received and the local per diem established by the government. However, this works both ways. If you receive $2/hr per diem and the government rate in Sioux Falls is $39/day, you must report the $9 difference as income if you want to be able to claim the deduction for nights spent in NYC. See also item #4 below.

2. Sales Tax: This will likely be a deduction only if you live in Florida, Texas, or another state that has no state income tax. When completing your Schedule A (Itemized deductions), you have to choose one or the other - not both. Also, the IRS gives you a table that gives you a sales tax amount based on the percentage tax and your income. You can add to that tax paid on cars, boats, etc. It is usually more generous than all those receipts with $.03 of tax.

3. Old computer deduction: You can tax a deduction when you donate used items, but it has to be reasonable. That means the price you can get on craigslist or e Bay - not some pie in the sky number that no one would pay.

4. Business expense deductions. First, your hair grows whether or not you have a job. Not deductible - even if you are in the military. Second, uniforms are deductible if required by your employer and NOT suitable for routine wear. Shoes, blue trousers, leather jacket...all suitable for routine wear and not deductible. Third, mileage. You cannot deduct any expenses related to commuting from your residence to your base. It makes no difference if you drive 3 miles or fly 3,000: commuting expenses are NOT deductible. If you have legit vehicle expenses (example: driving to your FAA required medical exam) you can claim actual expenses including interest - but only the percentage related to business travel. So, if you drove 10,000 miles during the year and 500 were business, you can take 5% of your interest expense. That's not much. Or, you can take the government rate ($.505 last year I believe) which is alot simpler. Fourth, the famous 2% rule. If you are married, these deductions have to exceed 2% of your COMBINED gross income to count for anything. Finally, if you itemize deductions you do not take the standard deduction, which was $5,500 last year for a single person and $10,000 for a married couple. You can take that much without even lifting a pencil. Unless you own your home and pay a ton in property taxes and interest, or give a huge amount to your house of worship you will probably save the money by just taking the standard deduction.

Those who say "I'm not an accountant" should not offer accounting advise!!!!

Oh, by the way. I was an accountant for twelve years, hold a Masters in Business Administration - and prepared tax returns for a "major national tax preparation firm" as recently as last year. PM if you have specific questions.