The tax laws are complicated, and as a result, millions of taxpayers miss out on valuable tax breaks. To avoid being one of them, you need to know about the tax breaks that are most often overlooked.
In the following video, Dan Caplinger, The Motley Fool's director of investment planning, goes through three commonly missed tax credits, including the child care tax credit, the American Opportunity Credit, and the Lifetime Learning Credit. Dan notes that the child care credit can give you 20% to 35% back for your child care expenses of up to $6,000 for two or more children. He also points out that the American Opportunity Credit gives you up $2,500 for expenses paid for the first four years of college education. Moreover, the Lifetime Learning Credit gives taxpayers 20% of their first $10,000 in expenses back, even for post-graduate education or courses you take to improve job skills. Dan notes that these educational credits helped Apollo Group (APOL +0.00%) and other for-profit institutions that offer those courses, but they can also help you make financing your education easier.
