Certain expenditures qualify as a deduction for your taxes. These expenditures are referred to as itemized deductions.

In general, if your total itemized deductions exceed the standard deduction, you should itemize. This includes these situations:

• You do not qualify for the standard deduction, or the amount of the standard deduction is limited
• You have large, uninsured medical and dental expenses
• You pay interest and taxes on a home or personal property
• You have large, unreimbursed employee business expenses
• You have large, uninsured casualty or theft losses
• You make large contributions to qualified charities

Most deductions are subject to the 2% of adjusted gross income (AGI) rule. This means the sum of expenditures greater than 2% of your total AGI are deductible in the amount that exceeds the 2%. Medical and dental expenses that are greater than 7.5% of your total AGI are deductible in the amount that exceeds the 7.5%.

• Medical and dental expenses
• State and local income taxes or sales tax
• Real estate and personal property taxes
• Home mortgage and investment interest
• Home mortgage points
• Charitable contributions
• Casualty and theft losses
• Job expenses
• Miscellaneous deductions 

• A married person whose filing status is married filing separately and whose spouse is itemizing deductions.
• An individual who is a nonresident alien or dual-status alien during any part of the current tax year. Dual status occurs when you are considered both a nonresident and resident alien during the same year.
• An individual who changes his or her annual accounting cycle and is filing a return for a period of less than 12 months. 

Certain itemized deductions are limited if the 2008 adjusted gross income exceeds $159,950 for married filing jointly, or $79,975 for married filing separately. For more information, see IRS Instructions for Schedule A.