The real secret to saving taxes is to learn and practice the art of pre-meditated tax avoidance. After the tax year is over there is little that you can legally do to reduce your taxes because you are committed to what was done during the tax year. It would be very difficult to find two families with exactly the same total income who also paid the same amount of income taxes.
Some families rent while others own a home.
Some families receive tax free medical benefits from an employer. Others have to pay for these with after tax dollars or do without. Some families have learned how to get a tax deduction for many of their expenses. Other families have virtually no deductions. Two investors with the same total assets to invest will rarely pay the same taxes.