省稅，得從AGI開刀。 AGI 是綱，綱舉目張。

然後，再作 Sch A 的文章。 Sch A is nothing but a receipt of your spending.  Tax payer spends money to buy tax deductions, not tax credits.  That is the reason I call it a “rate buy down”.  A good example is mortgage interest.  Often, we heard of that from RE agent. “Buy a house,  its mortgage is tax deductible!”   Is this truly an advantage?  Yes, if you owe other debts which are non-deductible and you use the money you free up by making a smaller down pmt to repay those debts.  Otherwise, NO.  While it’s nice to deduct the interest if you can afford to do so, it’s better not to pay it in the first place. 

Did you get what I am saying?  Think twice before you spend $$ to buy down your tax rate.