A tax deduction reduces your Adjusted Gross Income or AGI on your income tax return, thus either increasing your tax refund or reducing your taxes.

Why is my deductions not increasing my refund?

If your refund doesn't budge after you've entered your medical expenses, charitable contributions, mortgage interest, sales taxes, or your state, local, or property taxes, it's probably because your standard deduction is currently higher than your itemized deductions.

Can you get a tax refund from deductions?

Although more taxpayers will claim the standard deduction as a result of the changes, and the standard deduction will help lower your taxes, you may find that you can still itemize your deductions to get a bigger tax refund if you take a little time to gather some of your receipts.