5 New Tax Breaks (and 4 You May Be Forgetting)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- The tug of war over what credits and deductions the U.S. government allows and what taxpayers take is a grim and calculated struggle, and one that repeats itself every year.

Taxpayers lose leverage by not paying close attention to the tax breaks scattered through the U.S. tax code -- which clocked in at more than 73,000 pages last year, compared with only 400 pages almost exactly 100 years ago.

One advocate for taxpayers is looking to level the playing field, offering up some fresh tax deductions and some tried-and-true deductions that often go overlooked by Americans.

That advocate is Rebecca Pavese, a certified public accountant and director of the tax practice at Palisades Hudson Financial Group, a Scarsdale, N.Y., wealth management firm.