Recent Grads Should Keep Tabs

And finally, if you're still paying off student loans, don't forget you can deduct up to $2,500 in qualified student-loan interest.

Movin' On Up

If you had to move more than 50 miles from your home for your cool new job and weren't reimbursed for your moving expenses, you may be able to deduct them on your 2006 tax return. You just have to meet a few quirky IRS rules.

The first rule says that your "new job must be at least 50 miles farther from your old home than your old job was." Huh? That means if your old job was three miles from your old home, your new job must be at least 53 miles from your old home.

But what if you didn't have a former job? Well, then the new job must be least 50 miles from your former residence. Now "residence" refers to your principal residence, which could be your dorm room or parents' home.

If you moved back in with your folks before starting your new job, your parents' home will be your "former principal residence," notes Bob Scharin, editor of Warren, Gorham & Lamont/RIA's Practical Tax Strategies, a monthly journal written for tax professionals. But if you went from your dorm room in NYC right to your hot new job down in D.C., your dorm would count as your "principal residence."