CREDIT CARDS ARE NOT ALL ALIKE FOR TAX DEDUCTIONS
          
               You have probably often heard that if you charge
          something on a credit card it is deductible in the year
          you charge it, not the year you pay the bill.  That is
          almost true, but it has an exception that can leave you
          stuck.  Credit cards are not all the same under the tax
          rules.  
               The general rule is that you only get a tax
          deduction in the year you actually pay for a deductible
          expense.  But there's normally an exception when you
          pay with a credit card, as for tax purposes, payment is
          considered made on the date of the transaction, not on
          the date you pay the credit card company.  Lots of tax
          advice publications tell you this.
               What many of them forget to tell you is that there
          is a critical exception to the exception.  If you
          charge a deductible expense on a credit card issued by
          the company supplying the deductible goods or services,
          you can't take a deduction until the credit card bill
          is paid.  If you use the store credit card for your
          office supplies, or your personal prescription, you
          can't deduct it until you pay.  But if you use your
          Visa card you can take the deduction immediately.  Keep
          this in mind near the end of the year, when you may
          want to choose which card you use based on which year
          you want the tax deduction to be in.