our tax man, david elyashar of horwich coleman and levin, joins us on set. good to have you back on the show. > > thanks for having me. > according to cnn money, gross earners, or taxpayers bringing in $250,000 on average, took deductions of $91,000 in 2010. congress is about to potentially limit those deductions to maybe down to $50,000. but that means for this year, you can still take some pretty decent deductions. true? > > correct. > let's talk about some of the top deductions for the wealthy, starting with state and local income taxes. > > state and local income taxes are nice for wealthier taxpayers, because of course the more money you make, the more you are going to pay in state taxes. and depending on what state you live in, that could have an even more meaningful impact. for example, in illinois, we have gone from a 3% tax rate to a 5% tax rate. in many states that could be as high as 9% or 10%. > the wealthy also love a charitable deduction. > > that's right. for wealthy taxpayers, when they have more disposable income to make charitable contribut