Americans Are Overpaying Billions via Unclaimed Tax Breaks

by Tom Herman
Friday, October 19, 2007
The Wall Street Journal

Many Fail to Claim Deductions Tied To Local Outlays

Millions of people overlooked an important tax break and made other costly mistakes earlier this year on their 2006 returns, according to a recent report by the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, a Treasury Department unit.

For example, nearly 2.1 million taxpayers who were eligible to deduct their state and local sales taxes didn't do so, up 50% from the previous year. These people missed taking advantage of potentially $3.6 billion in deductions,