Don't forget to claim your refund for LD telephone excise tax. It's just one line on your tax return, and the amount (without having to prove anything) ranges from $30 for a single person to $60 on a tax return with 4 or more exemptions. The IRS says 1/3 of early returns did not claim it! A court ruled that the excise tax does not apply to long distance the way it is charged now, so they stopped charging it last August, and are refunding what you paid for the last 41 months. If you have your telephone records and can show you paid more than the standard amount, you can claim the actual amount.
We have an accountant that handles our taxes for us as well. She said the base deduction they are giving everyone is $40 (just an average number they came up with). If you have your phone bills and can back up more, go for it. We just took the standard $40 deduction. I hadn't even heard of it until last weekend when we had our taxes done!
Actually, it's $30 for one exemption, $40 for two, $50 for 3, and $60 for 4 or more, except if some of your dependents are claiming their own then you have to reduce yours.
I've already filed mine and didn't take that deduction. was too concerned with the college tuition deductions. if anyone knows a lot about this please send me a PM.
