If you’re a lottery junkie, wishing to make millions off the state jackpot, take note of how much you have spent on losing tickets. You’re not going to make millions, but money back in your pockets for taking a shot at it is not a bad deal.
 
School pays, too.
Beyond getting an education and making yourself employable in the near future, students can write off up to $2500 in student loan interest and up to $4,000 of qualified higher education expenses, including tuition and fees. Now school doesn’t have to be all about money going out—money can come back in as well.

Student Loan Interest Eligibility: If you’re single, AGI must be less than $65K; married and filing together, AGI must be less than $135K.

Higher Education Expenses Eligibility: Single, AGI less than $80K; married, AGI less than 160K.

Gossip: a tax saving machine?
For the busybodies out there who’ve spent long hours on the phone gossiping with their long-distance friends between March 2003 and July 2006, you get to take advantage of the Telephone Excise Tax Credit. In 2006, the IRS stopped collecting a tax on long-distance telephone service and, as a result, taxpayers who owned a landline or mobile phone between March 2003 and July 2006 are eligible for a standard refund of $30 to $60 (or your actual expenses).

A convenient truth.
Hybrid vehicles and energy-smart home improvements all fall under the newly-instituted Energy Efficient Credits. If you bought a new hybrid vehicle in 2006, you are eligible for a tax credit of $250 to $2,600 depending on the make and model of the car. A one-time credit of $500 is available to you if you purchased energy-efficient windows, doors, furnaces and air-conditioners during 2006. Kudos to the government for finally rewarding our environment-conscious selves with another type of green.