Tax credits cut your bill dollar-for-dollar - but only if you claim them. This free tool checks common credits (home office, vehicle, education and the Child Tax Credit) against your situation.
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This tool is for general information only and is not tax advice. Results depend on details it does not capture - confirm with your CPA before acting.
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Credits reduce tax dollar-for-dollar, while home office and vehicle items are deductions that only reduce taxable income. Pick the area you want to screen first; you can rerun the checker for the others. Eligibility for each turns on a separate test in the Internal Revenue Code, so screen them one at a time and keep the supporting records for that area.
Credits reduce tax dollar-for-dollar and have specific rules.
Official guidance: IRS credits and deductions
The exclusive-use test in IRC Section 280A(c)(1) requires a part of the home used only for business, with no personal use of that space; a spare room used part-time for family activities fails. Regular use means ongoing and continuing, not occasional. Common trap: a den or the kitchen table used for both work and personal life does not qualify, even if you work there often.
Employees generally cannot claim a home office; self-employed often can.
Official guidance: IRS credits and deductions
For 2018 through 2025, IRC Section 67(g) suspends miscellaneous itemized deductions, so a W-2 employee generally cannot deduct a home office even with exclusive use. Self-employed taxpayers deduct qualifying home office costs on Schedule C using Form 8829. Common trap: an employee who works from home cannot claim the deduction; an accountable-plan reimbursement from the employer is the usual remedy.
Employees generally cannot claim a home office; self-employed often can.
Official guidance: IRS credits and deductions
The actual-expense method on Form 8829 allocates home costs by business-use percentage and is limited to income from the business under IRC Section 280A(c)(5); disallowed amounts carry forward. The simplified method applies a set rate to the business square footage with no carryover. Common trap: the deduction cannot create or increase a business loss, so track gross income from the activity as well.
Self-employed taxpayers may use Form 8829 for home office expenses.
Official guidance: IRS credits and deductions
Only business use qualifies under IRC Section 162(a); commuting between home and a regular workplace is personal and nondeductible. Business use includes travel between job sites, to clients, or for business errands. Common trap: treating a daily commute as business miles, or deducting a vehicle used almost entirely for personal purposes.
Business use may qualify for mileage or actual expense deduction.
Official guidance: IRS credits and deductions
IRC Section 274(d) imposes heightened substantiation for vehicles: the deduction is disallowed without records of mileage, dates, destinations, and business purpose, ideally kept contemporaneously under Treas. Reg. Section 1.274-5T. A mileage app or logbook suffices; after-the-fact estimates are weak. Common trap: claiming a business-use percentage with no log, which is the first item an examiner requests.
Business use may qualify for mileage or actual expense deduction.
Official guidance: IRS credits and deductions
The standard mileage rate multiplies business miles by an IRS-set per-mile rate; the actual-expense method deducts the business-use share of real costs plus depreciation. Publication 463 explains the choice, and Rev. Proc. 2019-46 provides that a taxpayer using actual expenses with accelerated depreciation in the first year generally cannot switch to the standard mileage rate afterward. Common trap: not preserving receipts, which forecloses the actual-expense comparison.
Bring the mileage log and vehicle expense receipts so both methods can be compared under IRS Publication 463. Vehicle expenses may apply; confirm the standard-mileage versus actual-expense method with your CPA (Rev. Proc. 2019-46).
Official guidance: IRS credits and deductions
Qualified expenses under IRC Section 25A are tuition and required fees at an eligible institution; room, board, insurance, and transportation do not count. For the American Opportunity Credit, required course materials also qualify. Common trap: counting expenses paid with a tax-free scholarship or a 529 distribution, which cannot also generate a credit.
American Opportunity and Lifetime Learning credits have income limits.
Official guidance: IRS credits and deductions
The American Opportunity Credit requires at least half-time enrollment in a degree or credential program for at least one academic period and is limited to the first four years of postsecondary education (IRC Section 25A(b)(3)). The Lifetime Learning Credit under IRC Section 25A(c) covers part-time, single-course, and job-skill study with no degree requirement. Common trap: claiming the American Opportunity Credit for a fifth year or for non-degree coursework.
The Lifetime Learning Credit under IRC Section 25A(c), which has no half-time or degree requirement, may still apply; ask your CPA.
Official guidance: IRS credits and deductions
IRC Section 25A(g)(8) generally denies the education credit unless the taxpayer received Form 1098-T from the institution, with limited exceptions. Reconcile the amounts actually paid against Box 1, since the form may report amounts billed rather than paid. Common trap: relying on billed figures or claiming amounts that were covered by scholarships shown on the form.
Schools report tuition on Form 1098-T for credit claims.
Official guidance: IRS credits and deductions
A qualifying child for the Child Tax Credit must be under age 17 at year end, be related to you, live with you more than half the year, not provide more than half of their own support, and be claimed as a dependent (IRC Sections 24(c) and 152(c)). A dependent who is 17 or older may instead qualify for the Credit for Other Dependents. Common trap: assuming a child who turned 17 during the year still qualifies for the Child Tax Credit.
Age, relationship, support, and residency tests apply.
Official guidance: IRS credits and deductions
The Child Tax Credit phases out once modified adjusted gross income exceeds the threshold for your filing status, reducing the credit under IRC Section 24(b); the amount is computed on Schedule 8812. Each qualifying child also needs a Social Security number valid for employment issued before the return due date (IRC Section 24(h)(7)). Common trap: assuming a higher earner gets nothing, when a reduced credit often remains and is worth computing.
You may qualify; bring Social Security cards and custody details so the credit can be figured on Schedule 8812 (IRC Section 24). The credit may be reduced under the IRC Section 24(b) phase-out; your CPA can compute the reduced amount on Schedule 8812.
Official guidance: IRS credits and deductions
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