Increase your tax refund with these deductions

The 2017 tax season officially kicked off on Jan. 23, when the IRS began accepting electronically filed tax returns. The agency expects to get over 153 million individual returns. Last year, about 73 percent of all filers received a tax refund, averaging $2,857, and likely to be about the same this year.But who wouldn’t welcome a larger refund? After all, for many Americans, it’s the biggest single check they’ll receive all year. And while things like mortgage interest, real es