Know the above-the-line deductions
One common misconception is that tax deductions are an all-or-nothing decision. In other words, many people believe that you either itemize or take no deductions at all.
This is false. There are several tax deductions, known as “above-the-line” deductions or adjustments to income, that you can use regardless of whether you itemize. The traditional IRA deduction I mentioned earlier is in this category. The student loan interest deduction and educator expenses deduction are also usable even if you don’t itemize.
