Humans are predictable in behaviour because, behaviour patterns repeat themselves. Some will watch the huge tax deductions from salary recorded in the W2 and the T4 and T4A slips and will grudgingly resign themselves to pay these taxes deducted from their salary. I have seen Tax Deductions as high as $49,000.00. Indeed, the numbers fall all over the map, depending on your Income source or salary. The majority of these tax deductions fall in the $7,000.00 to $14,000.00 range with an annual salary around $60,000.00.

Three fundamental strategies reduce taxes on incomes and salaries. These tax deductions are: -

1. Contributions to a retirement or to Pension Funds: Such retirement savings are usually allowed as a legitimate tax deduction.
2. Self-employment expenses: These could include home, car and living expenses from the home budget that relate to business activities which are tax deductible.
3. Carrying Charges or using OPM: The secret here is that in business, the cost of money is a business expense allowed as a tax deduction by the IRS and CRA in different forms.

All of these tax deductions are available to just about every Taxpayer in various ways. Religiously, these tax strategies deliver 50% to 75% of the Taxes many a Taxpayer hand over from their salary, needlessly, to both the IRS and to CRA. The reason these tax deductions are not used more often is that as a Taxpayer, you may not yet have the knowledge to apply them to your individual circumstances. For example, you may be able to claim carrying charges or you could set that up for your next year's tax report. If you don't know, you will not understand that this refers to you too. Many finance professionals and Advisors, apply these strategies in the affairs of Clients who receive tremendous, financial benefits all the time. This should make the case that you could afford to use some of those tax dollars to pay for a competent Financial Advisor who would get your money back to you many times over.

The main message here is that the money your Employers send on to Uncle Sam, the IRS and to CRA (Revenue Canada) is not salary money lost to you forever. You still have some time to recover those dollars. Usually, a good Financial Planner will recover around 50% of those dollars. A seventy five percent recovery rate is not unusual. Just think about it. Let’s say your numbers fall right in the middle. If your Employer sends over $10,000.00 from your salary paycheques every year you could recover $5000.00 year after year. That sum $5000.00 could do a lot including: -- Buying a yearly $5000.00 vacation Making a retirement Savings Contribution of $5000.00 Making a $5000.00 contribution to your Children’s Education Making a $5000.00 Extra Mortgage Payment contribution Year after Year.

You don’t need any help with the vacation planning. Your private Financial Advisor will help with your education and retirement Plans. As for the fast Mortgage payment option, these tax refund dollars will stretch in ways you would hardly dream of. If you pay down your mortgage with new money as extra mortgage payments, then the benefits are exponential. Unfortunately, more Home Owners, from Seniors to working professionals to Young Couples with a tight home budget, must become more acutely aware of the exponential benefits of extra mortgage payments. Too often, such fast mortgage payment dollars exist in the home budget. We just don’t know where to look to find them. In addition to Brian Costello’s book: Making Money From Your Mortgage, only a limited few specialize in giving specific details on the huge savings to be found in your mortgage payments.

Additional or faster mortgage payments immediately gain a return of whatever the mortgage interest rates are. If for example your mortgage is written at a 5% interest charge, then you gain an immediate 5% return on your tax Reund money. Saving Accounts at the bank pay less than 3.00%. In addition, the $5000.00 tax refund cheque, if paid to your mortgage every year, will pay the mortgage off entirely maybe two years, may be five years faster. Here is where some startling, but hidden savings apply. Most People fail to understand this because few understand the finer points of how mortgage payments really work. As a rule professionals are not involved in this field since the focus is on placing mortgages not repaying them. Your total Tax Refund Savings would then include those months and years of mortgage payments you would not have to make because of the earlier fast payments. So, if your monthly, mortgage payments were $1000.00 then, five years of mortgage payment savings would deliver real cash savings of:

$1000.00 X 12 Months X 5 Years = $60,000.00

A $60,000.00 benefit is the result for each $1000.00 of tax reduction!! That sum of $60,000.00 are dollars you are contracted to pay as regular mortgage payments. Here is one powerful reason that many working professionals find it hard to make ends meet while many Business Owners and a few Employees-with-the-Knowledge enjoy a life of luxury. This year, make yourself a wealth promise to get your 50% share of excess tax dollars. Don’t just make this an empty promise, but do something about it.