For highlights of any tax changes for the current tax year please refer to the "What's New" section of the Form 1040 Instructions, the Form 1040A Instructions, or the Form 1040EZ Instructions. You may also refer to Publication 553, Highlights of the Current Year Tax Changes. Remember, this information is effective for the current the tax year.

Parents in the process of a domestic U. S. adoption who do not have and/or are unable to obtain the child's Social Security Number (SSN) should request an Adoption Taxpayer Identification Number (ATIN) in order to claim the child as a dependent and (if eligible) to claim the child care credit. Form W-7A (PDF), Application for Taxpayer Identification Number for Pending U.S. Adoptions, is used by qualifying taxpayers to obtain an ATIN. To get Form W-7A, you may go to any IRS walk-in site or call 1-800-829-3676. You may also download the form here in Adobe PDF format. For more information about the ATIN, refer to the Form W-7A (PDF), instructions.

If the child is not a U. S. citizen or resident, use Form W-7 (PDF), Application for IRS Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, to obtain an ITIN. For more information, refer to Individual Taxpayer Identification Number.

References:

• Form W-7 (PDF), Application for IRS Individual Taxpayer Identification Number
• Form W-7A (PDF), Application for Taxpayer Identification Number for Pending Adoptions
• Individual Taxpayer Identification Number
• Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information

If you claim a deduction on your return of over $500 for all contributed property, you must attach a Form 8283 (PDF), Noncash Charitable Contributions, to your return. If you claim a total deduction of $5,000 or less for all contributed property, you need only complete Section A of Form 8283 (PDF). If you claim a deduction of more than $5,000 for an item or a group of similar items, you generally need to complete Section B of Form 8283 (PDF) which requires, in most cases, an appraisal by a qualified appraiser.

You will need to obtain and keep evidence of your car donation and be able to substantiate the fair market value of the car. If you are claiming a deduction of $250 or more for the car donation, you will also need a contemporaneous written acknowledgement from the charity that includes a description of the car and a statement of whether the charity provided any goods or services in return for the car and, if so, a description and estimate of the fair market value of the goods or services.

For more information on these requirements, refer to Publication 526, Charitable Contributions; Publication 561, Determining the Value of Donated Property; Form 8283, Noncash Charitable Contributions, and its instructions.

If your child was born alive and died during the same year, and the exemption tests are met, you can take the full exemption. This is true even if the child lived only for a moment. Whether your child was born alive depends on state or local law. There must be proof of a live birth shown by an official document such as a birth certificate. Under these circumstances, if you do not have a social security number for the child, you may attach a copy of the child's birth certificate instead and enter "DIED" in column 2 of line 6c of the Form 1040 (PDF) or Form 1040A (PDF).

Normally, to be qualifying child and meet the residency test, your child must have lived with you for more than half of the tax year. For earned income credit purposes, if your child was not alive for more than half of the year, the year, the child is considered to meet the test as if the child lived with you for the entire time he or she was alive during the year. The earned income credit generally requires that you provide a valid social security number for your qualifying child. If you meet all the other requirements to claim this credit and your child was born and died in the same year, you will not be required to provide a social security number for that child. Instead, you may enter "DIED" on line 4 of Form 1040, Schedule EIC (PDF) Earned Income Credit, and attach a copy of the child's birth certificate.

References:

• Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information
• Publication 596, Earned Income Credit
• Tax Topic 601, Earned Income Credit
• Tax Topic 606, Child Tax Credits

If the child is a qualifying child of both parents, they may choose which one will claim the credit. If there are two qualifying children, each parent may claim the credit on the basis of one of the children or one parent may claim the credit on the basis of both children. If both actually claim the credit on the basis of the same child, the parent who is entitled to the credit is the parent with whom the child lived for the longer period of time during the tax year, or the parent with the higher adjusted gross income (AGI) if the child lived with each parent for the same amount of time during the year.

Refer to Publication 596, Earned Income Credit, for full discussion of the earned income credit rules.

References:

• Tax Topic 601, Earned Income Credit

You may be able to take this credit if your earned income does not exceed a maximum dollar amount set by law. The maximum dollar amount is based on your filing status and whether you have a qualifying children or not. Other rules apply. For details, refer to Tax Topic 601, Earned Income Credit, or Publication 596, Earned Income Credit.

If both you and your spouse work and both have taxable compensation, each of you can contribute to a separate traditional IRA. The amount that you can contribute to each IRA is subject to a limit. Refer to chapter 1 of Publication 590 for more information on these limits. Contributions can be made even if one spouse has little or no compensation, if you file a joint return. You can make a contribution to a separate IRA for your nonworking spouse if you file a joint return. Your total contribution to both your IRA and the spousal IRA for this year is limited by certain factors such as your taxable compensation, contributions to a traditional or Roth IRA and your age.

For additional information, refer to Tax Topic 451, Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs), or Publication 590, Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs).

References:

• Tax Topic 451, Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs)