What is appropriate on one persons taxes, may not be appropriate at all on yours. Circumstances vary. In addition, what another person does on their taxes may be wrong. They may or may not get away with it for long. It usually takes the IRS two years to send a letter. They are that far behind.
"My uncle did so and so on his tax return and the IRS gave him a $5,000 refund this year."
Just because your uncle did it, doesn't mean it's right. Now, it might be right for his circumstances and not correct for your situation. Often times, people do something on their return that is not correct at all, and it takes two years for them to get an IRS Notice about it.
I like old sportscars and I can drive my 1971 Porsche 90 miles per hour on a trip to the Gulf Coast and never get stopped or fined for speeding. Ah, got by with it! But if I make a second trip and do it again, I may get caught and fined.
What is appropriate for one person, may not be appropriate for another. And, just because someone did something on their tax return, don't necessarily make it right.
