If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. That philosophy works well in tax season, when you can use some tax payments to lower your bill to the Internal Revenue Service.

In this tax tip: • State bills lower federal taxes   • Don't go overboard • Adding to your standard deduction

By itemizing deductions, you can subtract many nonfederal taxes you pay from your federal income.

State bills lower federal taxes
Allowable deductions include state and local income taxes or, for some filers, sales taxes paid throughout the year, along with real estate taxes, personal property taxes and intangible taxes on investments.

If you paid estimated taxes to your state revenue department, don't forget to add those amounts to the state income taxes that were withheld from your paychecks throughout the year.

And taxpayers in California, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Washington may deduct mandatory payments made to those states' disability and compensation funds. Employee contributions to private or voluntary disability programs are not deductible.

Schedule A even offers itemizing taxpayers a catchall line (No. 8) for "other" taxes. Here you can deduct occupational taxes or any foreign income taxes. Foreign taxes are not that unusual, especially for investors whose holdings include mutual funds that invest -- and pay dividend taxes -- overseas.

If that's the case, you'll find the foreign tax amount in box 6 of the Form 1099-DIV that your fund manager has sent you. This amount may be worth more tax savings to you, however, as a credit on line 51 of your Form 1040.

Don't go overboard
But don't get carried away in deducting taxes. There are some payments that Uncle Sam won't allow you to subtract from your federal income, including:

• Federal excise taxes.
• Social Security and Medicare, or FICA, taxes.
• Federal unemployment, or FUTA, and railroad retirement, or RRTA, taxes.
• Customs duties.
• Federal estate and gift taxes.
• State gasoline taxes.
• Car registration and inspection fees.
• Transfer, or stamp, taxes on the sale of property.
• License fees, such as driver's, marriage or pet tags.
• Assessments for sidewalks or other property improvements.
• Parking and traffic tickets or other fines.
• And if you paid any tax penalties or interest, sorry. These charges aren't deductible either.

In July 2008, the Housing Assistance Tax Act included a provision to allow taxpayers to add at least some of their real estate tax payments to their standard deduction amount. In the fall, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act (usually referred to as the financial bailout bill) extended this new deduction to the 2009 tax year, too.

The goal is to help homeowners who might not itemize because, for example, they have paid off their mortgage, or are at the end of the term and pay little or no interest. Although they have no interest to claim on Schedule A, they still face local property tax bills, but that amount alone is not enough to justify itemizing over using the standard deduction amount.

If this is your situation, you can add up to $500 if you're single ($1,000 if you're married and file a joint return) to your standard deduction amount. Be sure to check the box on line 39c of your Form 1040 so IRS processors will know why the figure is different. And note that you must file the long 1040 version, not the 1040A, to take advantage of this added property tax deduction.

If you're not using tax software, you also should check out the standard deduction work sheet in your Form 1040 instructions. It's a bit more work, but it also could help you cut your tax bill, so it's time well spent.

Freelance writer Kay Bell writes Bankrate's tax stories from her Austin, Texas, home. She also writes two tax blogs, Eye on the IRS for Bankrate and Don't Mess With Taxes, and is the author of the book "The Truth About Paying Fewer Taxes."