Exactly.
Get yourself a copy of Turbo Tax or something and fire up the deductions. Max out your charitable giving - etc. - by the end of the year rather than give it to Uncle Sam!
Starve the beast!
Claim additional dependents for the year, and put the saved tax money in your own bank account. At the end of the year, pay your taxes with a check. That way, YOU get to collect the interests on that money. The government collects a lot of interest each year by holding on to peoples weekly deductions. They count on that extra tax freebie.
Also, for Christmas, by food. Everyone eats! Food is non taxable. A collection of nuts and cheap nut crackers go over well. Sweet cakes, cookies, jellies, cheeses, etc. That way, there's no sales tax. The dollar stores have baskets that can be Saran wrapped and tied with inexpensive ribbon to dress things up a bit.
Pay attention to what is taxed and what is not taxed. Limit those things that are taxed like a plague. You'll be surprised how much money you save, and how much money the politicians DON'T get.
That’s exactly what we did in the past, and I still play around with it. We now have an accountant, but that’s so we don’t miss anything and we have two small home-based businesses to deal with, too, on top of my salary from my outside job.
But it just amazes me that people let the government fritter away even MORE of their dollars than they already do!
Talk about wealth re-distribution! It’s been going on unchecked since the 1930’s and the first income taxes! Grrrrrr!
Single earners, earning just $33,930 in taxable income puts you in the 25% bracket this year! Gawd!!
http://www.moneychimp.com/features/tax_brackets.htm
http://www.moneybluebook.com/2009-federal-income-tax-brackets-official-irs-tax-rates/