How does a married couple with a home and income of $90,000 pay less taxes?

We are a married couple. Our taxable income this year is about $90,000. We have one home but we pay more and more taxes every year. This year the IRS wants $3,000 in taxes from us.





Is there any way to pay less taxes or a book anyone can recommend that will show us how to do that? Thanks.How does a married couple with a home and income of $90,000 pay less taxes?
I am assuming that you owe an additional $3K to the IRS, not that your total tax bill was $3K. If the latter is true, then congratulations. If the former is true, you are not having enough withheld. The only way to owe less money to the government without decreasing your earnings is to increase your deductions:


Have a child


Donate to charity


Contribute to a 4O1K planHow does a married couple with a home and income of $90,000 pay less taxes?
If both you and your husband are W-2 employees, then there is a limited amount that you can do beyond maximizing your deductions, which you seem to be doing a good job of currently.





If, however, one or both of you were employed as an Independent Contractor, for example, and your S-corp were paid on a gross basis, it would be possible to pay some of your expenses as ordinary business expenses and pay less money to yourselves as salary, reducing your personal tax liability.





From this point, there are many things you can do with the excess cash in the business. You can keep it as retained earnings or contribute it to a SEP IRA. Current SEP IRA limit is 46,000 and is 100% deductible.
Are you saying you owe the IRS $3000?


If that is the case have more withheld from you pay every pay period, you already have a pretty low taxable income, since the lowest tax brackett is 10%, thisd means you have been able to remove at least $60000 from your gross income. Thats a lot of deductions.





Seriously if you pay every year, your withholding needs to be adjusted, go to you employer(s) and update the form W4 have them take extra out each pay period in addition to changing to filing status to single with 0 exemprtions.





Good Luck
Make less money.





Seriously, to lower your tax bill, you have to have less income.





All schemes to have higher income and pay less tax involve tying your money up and eventually losing it. As Will Rogers once said, the return of your money is more important than the return on it.
If your tax liability is $3k on $90k of taxable income that is about 3% effective tax rate.





I'd be VERY happy to have that rate!! It sounds like you have plenty of deductions and credits to get the rate that low, I can't think of anything else you could do or change.