How to save on taxes 1 (2008)

For starters if you don't work for yourself and have a simple tax filing situation, then it is cheaper not to pay a tax preparer or accountant.

You can use tax prep/accounting software.
E-filing can get your tax returns to you more quickly. Look carefully at the specs on the tax prep software before you buy. Some will give you more value than others.
Here are a few little used tax savings deductions:

Do  you teach school? $250 educators' expenses.
If you are a teacher or a teachers aide, you can can deduct up to $250 spent in
2007 for books and classroom supplies. Look to line 23 of the Form 1040.
If you qualify, you get this deduction regardless of whether you itemize.

College tuition for the family.
You may qualify to deduct up to $4,000 that you paid for college tuition in the year 2007. It can be for yourself or your spouse or a dependent. It may be advantageous if your income is too high to qualify to claim the "Hope or Lifetime Learning" credit. You can claim this deduction wether or not you you itemize.

Student loan interest paid by parents.
Previously if parents paid back a child's student loan, there was no tax break.
To get a deduction, the law held that you had to be both liable for the debt and actually pay it yourself. As a change, now there's an exception.
If parents pay off the loan, the IRS considers it as though they gave the money to their child, who then paid the debt. A child who's not claimed as a dependent can still qualify for a deduction of up to $2,500 of student loan interest
paid by their parents.