How many times have you done your taxes and, three weeks later, learned you had missed the opportunity for a deduction? How can you avoid missing these deductions the next year?

Start planning now.

A number of deductions that my own clients often miss. Here are some of them that can affect your tax bill for 2008 and your tax planning for 2009.

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Non-cash contributions

Let’s say you emptied your closets and gave everything to Goodwill or a similar charity. The value of your donated items — clothes, furniture, whatever — is deductible. Get a written receipt. With non-cash charitable contributions, the rule is simple: No receipt means no deduction if you get audited. Clothes and household goods must be in good or better condition to get the deduction. For more see my web page Fair Market Value Guide

If you’ve already dumped your old clothes in a Salvation Army box and walked away without a receipt, take the deduction anyway. You’ve legitimately made the contribution. You just may not be able to prove it in an audit. Starting in 2007, the law required a receipt or some sort of written confirmation for all charitable donations.

If you can, reconstruct as much as you can the list of items you donated and then figure out their market value. For more see my web page/s Fair Market Value Guide

And then, of course, when you make the donation, make sure you get that receipt.

New points on refinancing

With interest rates so low over the past few years — even in 2008 — lots of homes have been refinanced, some more than once.

Any points you pay to refinance your home can be deducted on a monthly basis over the life of the new loan.

Old points on refinancing

This is one deduction lots of people miss. All unamortized points on an old refinancing are deducted in the year of a new refinancing.

So, let’s say you refinanced on June 1, 2007, and paid $2,400 in points. You refinanced again on June 1, 2008 You can deduct all the remaining points on the 2007 loan. That’s $2,280 plus the $50 you could deduct for January through May 2008 Likewise, if you refinance the 2008 loan in 2009 (if interest rates stay low), you will be able to write off the remaining balance on your 2008 return.

Health insurance premiums

Any health insurance premiums you pay, including some long-term-care premiums based on your age, are potentially deductible. You have to add these, however, to your medical expenses. Medical expenses have to exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income (AGI) before they give you any tax benefit.

But if you’re self-employed and not covered by any other employer-paid plan, you can deduct 100% your health insurance premiums “above the line.” Above the line means the expense is included in adjusted gross income and doesn’t get lumped in with itemized deductions.

Student higher education expenses

If you qualify for the Hope and Lifetime Learning credits. The Hope credit is worth as much as $1,800 per student subject to income limits for 2008. The Lifetime Learning credit is worth as much as $2,000 per return. Compare the credit with the deduction, and go with the one which gives you the biggest benefit. And, if you don’t qualify for either credit, you may be able to deduct up to $4,000 in education expenses in 2008.

Clean fuel credit

Credits are good because they are a dollar-for-dollar reduction in tax. And if you bought a new hybrid gas-electric auto or truck in 2007, you can get a conservation tax credit of between $250 and $1,000 and an additional fuel economy credit of between $400 and $2,400, depending on the make and the fuel economy.

You get the deduction in the year you start using the car, and you must be the original owner. Take it on your Form 1040 by writing in “clean fuel.”

Consumers must do more legwork to understand what kind of tax savings they might get if they’re buying a specific hybrid car or truck. Check with a dealer or a tax preparer.

Buyers of Toyota’s 2007 Prius hybrid qualify for a $3,150 credit, while its hybrid Highlander sport-utility vehicle and Ford’s hybrid Escape SUV qualify for $2,600.

Honda’s Civic Hybrid gets a $2,100 credit. But its Civic GX compressed natural gas vehicle qualifies for a $4,000 credit, the most for any vehicle.

The Insight qualifies for a $1,450 credit, and the Accord Hybrid qualifies for a $1,300 credit. General Motors’  mild hybrid Silverado and Sierra pickup trucks qualify for a $650 credit.

For a complete list of credits, Summary of the Credit for Qualified Hybrid Vehicles. Also see Tax Credit for Hybrid Vehicles

Investment and tax expenses

Many of us forget tax planning and investment expenses because they are part of miscellaneous itemized expenses. Their total must exceed 2% of your adjusted gross income before you get any tax benefit.

Expenses to track include your employee business expenses, tax preparation fees and even the portion of your legal or accounting fees relating to tax planning. For example, in a divorce, the legal time spent relating to the tax aspects of alimony and child support would qualify. So too would the tax aspects of estate planning.

Many people short change themselves on the deduction of investment expenses. They remember the safety deposit box fees. But how about the annual fee paid your broker and any IRA fees you pay directly? You may remember the cost of your investment publications on subscription — such as Fortune, BusinessWeek, Money. But how about the investment newspapers you buy off the newsstands? You keep track of your long-distance phone calls to your broker and investment adviser, but how about the mileage to go see them?

Casualty deductions

Last year brought hurricanes and fires, not to mention all the flooding, and everyone remembers Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which devastated the Gulf Coast in 2005.

If President Bush declared your area a disaster area, you can claim your loss either on your 2007 return or your 2008 return. You can confirm whether you qualify on the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Web site.

Retirement tax credit

This one also can come with a deduction. This credit is designed to give moderate- and low-income taxpayers an incentive to save for retirement.

Make a contribution into your retirement account. That money isn’t taxed currently. So, it’s like you got a deduction off your income. In addition, you get a credit of as much as 50% of the first $2,000 invested. That’s as much as a $1,000 reduction in your tax.

You get the $1,000 tax reduction as well as the $2,000 reduction in your income. That’s a nice rate of return on a $2,000 investment. Moreover, if you qualify, you can deduct as much as $4,000 in contributions to an IRA.

The tax credit disappears as your adjusted gross income increases. Contributions to your 401(k), 403(b), SEP, traditional or even Roth IRAs will qualify as well.

For more on this visit LET UNCLE SAM SUBSIDIZE YOUR RETIREMENT SAVINGS or ANOTHER CREDIT – FORM 8880, or Credit for Qualified Retirement Savings Contribution.