报税季节话省税(一）： AGI, 省税的尚方宝剑！

长期以来，AGI 让中产阶级吃尽苦头， 且愈演愈烈。 if your AGI is greater than 75,000 (single)/150,000 (join), $8,000 tax credit 与君无缘，郁闷吧？ 岂止如此。

higher AGI will result in phase out of the followings:

- child tax credit

- IRA deductions

- Sch A fully deduction

- tuition and fees deduction

- college student financial aid (FA) and scholarship applications

- Gov loan FHA to buy home

And so on... in a word, 利少弊多就是啦。

What savvy tax payers do to protect their assets is to try as much as possible to lower their AGI. Warren Buffett is one of them. You may not believe he pays taxes at lower rate （16%）than his secretary. Don't get surprised if your rate is even higher than his!

So, take control of your AGI, my friends. How? Pay very close attention to (大作文章) all lines above line 37 on the 1st page ( I really mean it) of form 1040 . 不要放过 Sch C, D, E. Don't omit lines from 23-36。

Don't let AGI knock you out. Happy tax season! :-)