Most people expect tax season to be painful. But for many Americans, it’s more expensive than it needs to be. Every year, households quietly forfeit up to billions of dollars in federal tax credits because they don’t know these programs exist or assume they don’t qualify. And that’s a costly mistake: unlike deductions, which only reduce taxable income, credits lower your bill dollar for dollar. Must Read At a time when household budgets are stretched thin, Americans can ill-afford to leave money on th ...