Seconding the comments above (does that make it "fourth-ing"? )
Either use a tax preparer (HR Black or similar) or use TurboTax.
Pull out all of your closing paperwork and look at all of the non-recoverable expenses (points, fees, commissions, FedEx fees, Inspection fees, the works...) and look for where to claim those. TurboTax has a lot of knowledge base articles and helps for this.
Not all will be deductible, but many will be.
You should receive a separate Mortgage interest statement (Form 1098) from your Mortgage lender...that can be listed as a deduction as well.
Depending on when you bought the house, you may be better off claiming the standard deduction or going to itemized deductions...it depends on how much in other deductions (including mortgage interest) you have.
Most folks I have worked with start itemizing the first year...the points put you over the top.
Once you are itemizing...look at what else is deductible that you never bothered with before:
- Charitible giving
- Medical expenses
- mileage to charities
- clothing donations to Goodwill
- Real Estate taxes on your house
- School taxes
- Last year's State taxes (many miss this one)
- etc.
Turbotax has the "ItsDeductible" aspect that can walk you through all of that.
Just remember that the IRS now requires TWO forms of proof for donations and most other things. A cancelled check and a statement from the charity = 2. A receipt and a picture of the clothes = 2, etc.
If you use Turbotax this year...next year will be even easier since Turbotax will import all the data as a starting point (assuming you don't change computers in the mean time).
