Tip #1: You have two more days to file this year.  This year, April 15th falls on a Sunday, so the IRS initially extended the filing deadline to midnight on Monday, April 16th.
     However, it turns out that April 16th is a holiday in the District of Columbia, so the IRS extended the deadline by another day.
     You now have until midnight on Tuesday, April 17th to file you return.

Tip #2: Get a federal phone tax refund.  After years of erroneously collecting a 3% tax on long-distance calls, the IRS has finally admitted it has been making a mistake, and is offering refunds to all taxpayers who paid the phone tax between February 28, 2003 and August 1, 2006.
     You can get their "standard phone refund" without documenting your actual phone usage.
     The "standard refund" is based on the number of exemptions you claim. The amounts are: One exemption, $30. Two exemptions, $40. Three exemptions, $50. Four exemptions, $60.
     To get a refund based on the actual amount you paid, you will need to submit all phone bills for the period between 2/28/03 and 8/01/06, and file a Form 8913. Businesses and nonprofit organizations will also need to file this form.

Tip #3: Deduct state and local sales tax.  President Bush has extended this deduction for your 2006 taxes.
     To deduct state and local sales tax, you must claim them as an itemized deduction on your tax return Schedule A, line 5, with the notation "ST."
     You will benefit the most by itemizing this deduction if you paid lots of sales tax on big-ticket items in 2006.

Tip #4: Contribute to a charity from your IRA.  This year, the tax-deductible contribution you can make to a qualified charity tax free from your IRA has been increased up to $100,000.
     To qualify, you must be at least 70 ½ years old. If you are married, and both meet the age requirement, both you and your wife can each contribute up to $100,000.
     The check must be written from your IRA and payable to the charity. Checks written from another account, into which you have transferred IRA-funds, are not tax-exempt.
     Only traditional and Roth IRAs are eligible for this transfer. Finally, to qualify, the charity must be a public charity, not a private foundation.

Tip #5: Don't forget your "green" deductions.  If you owned a hybrid car in 2006, you can get a tax credit of up to $3,150, depending upon the make and model of the hybrid you own.
     As sales of particular models of hybrids exceed 60,000 vehicles, this credit will phase down, so take advantage of it now.
     You can also get a credit of up to $500 for improving your home's energy efficiency. The credit applies to monies spent on upgrading heating and cooling, windows, doors, and insulation.

Tip #6: Cut your taxes by making a last-minute IRA contribution.  You can cut your 2006 taxes by making a last-minute contribution to a regular or Roth IRA. Up to $5,000 is deductible (depending upon your age and marital status) if you contribute before this year's tax-filing deadline, April 17th.

Tip #7: Document your charitable donations.  The IRS is getting tougher when it comes to charitable deductions. Previously the IRS took a taxpayers' word when they said an old clunker contributed to charity was worth say $3,000. Now the IRS may demand that you document the car's Blue Book value and condition to get the deduction, and disallow it if you don't.
     Further, effective in 2007, you must be prepared to document any cash donations, and donated clothing and household items must be in at least good condition to be deductible. Again, any claims of the value of donations you can't document may be disallowed.

Tip #8: Set up a Health Savings Account .  Even such establishment stalwarts as former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and current Chairman Ben Bernanke now publicly admit that Social Security and Medicare face a growing fiscal crisis in the next decade, which will likely force cut-backs in benefits.
     Indeed, those cutbacks have already begun, as the government been quietly cutting payments to doctors and hospitals for years now, causing many hospitals to cut services and close down, and more and more doctors to refuse to take any Medicare patients. Mandatory Universal Health Care – now being pushed by most Democratic presidential candidates, as well as more and more Republicans – will only accelerate the financial crisis and service cutbacks.
     Because of these problems, it behooves all Americans to have a viable alternative to government-controlled health care. One excellent alternative is to set up your own tax-deductible Health Savings Account, now legal in all 50 states.
     New IRS rules adopted last year make setting up a Health Savings Account easier than ever. According to tax attorney Barbara Weltman, you can make a one-time transfer from a Flexible Spending Account or a Health Reimbursement Account to a Health Savings Account through 2011.
     The maximum amount you can transfer tax-free is 1) your account balance on September 21, 2006, or 2) the balance on the date of transfer – whichever is less.

Tip #9: Reduce inheritance taxes for your children.  Effective this year, you can transfer monies upon your death to an IRA for your children or some other beneficiary (other than your spouse).
     This enables you to stretch the monetary distribution over many years, avoiding huge tax bills that accompany most transfers of estates upon death.

Tip #10: Set up a spousal IRA.  Under current rules, for the 2006 tax year, you can make a tax-free contribution of up to $5,000 into an IRA for your spouse, if he or she is at least 50 years old. If you have a younger spouse who is not working, you can contribute up to $4,000.