Oops! Didn't need that deduction, did you?

Several tax deductions that expired in 2005 were renewed by Congress late last year.

AFTER the IRS sent the 2006 form 1040s to press. Which means all these forms are incorrect and missing areas to claim these deductions. For more info on just what is missing and how to work around it (this is mostly a personal taxes issue, from what I can see), check out this article from accountingweb.com.

What I am most curious about is how this will affect do-it-yourselfers like me, who use tax software and e-file and never see those lovely, erroneous 1040s. For the state sales tax deduction, a big one for us since we're in Texas, one of the few remaining states that uses a state sales tax rather than a state income tax to raise funds, the IRS has put out Publication 600 to help figure it all out.

For an excellent layperson-friendly description of how to handle the other tax deductions that were reinstated, check out this page at About.com.