Important Changes

Photographs of missing children. The Internal Revenue Service is a proud partner with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Photographs of missing children selected by the Center may appear in this publication on pages that would otherwise be blank. You can help bring these children home by looking at the photographs and calling 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678) if you recognize a child.

Paid preparer authorization. Beginning with your return for 2000, you can check a box and authorize the IRS to discuss your tax return with the paid preparer who signed it. If you check the "Yes" box in the signature area of your return, the IRS can call your paid preparer to answer any questions that may arise during the processing of your return. Also, you are authorizing your paid preparer to perform certain actions. See your income tax package for details.

Standard mileage rate. Beginning January 1, 2000, the optional standard mileage rate for operating your car for business purposes is 32.5 cents for each business mile.

Limit on personal credits. For tax years 2000 and 2001, your nonrefundable personal credits for the year can offset both your regular tax (after reduction by the foreign tax credit) and your alternative minimum tax for that year, if any.

The personal credits that can offset those taxes, but cannot be refunded if they are more than those taxes, are:

• Adoption credit,
• Child tax credit,
• Credit for child and dependent care expenses,
• Credit for the elderly or the disabled,
• Education credits (Hope and lifetime learning credits),
• Mortgage interest credit, and
• District of Columbia first-time homebuyer credit.

For more information about these credits, see the instructions for Form 1040.

Individual retirement arrangement (IRA). If you are covered under an employer retirement plan, the amount of income you can have in 2000 and still claim a deduction for a contribution to a traditional IRA has increased in most cases. For more information, see Publication 590, Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs) (Including Roth IRAs and Education IRAs).

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