Individual retirement arrangement (IRA) contributions and deductions. You can treat nontaxable combat pay as compensation for purposes of the limits on contributions and deduction of contributions to IRAs. You may be able to amend your 2004 or 2005 return. See Individual Retirement Arrangements under Adjustments to Income.

Qualified reservist distributions. If you were a member of a reserve component and you were ordered or called to active duty after September 11, 2001, you may not have to pay the 10% tax on early distributions from certain retirement plans you received after you were ordered or called to active duty. See Qualified Reservist Distributions in the Individual Retirement Arrangements discussion under Adjustments to Income.

Qualified reservist repayments. You may be able to repay any qualified reservist distributions you received even if the repayment would cause your total contributions to your IRA to be more than the limit on contributions. See Qualified Reservist Repayments in the Individual Retirement Arrangements discussion under Adjustments to Income.

Earned income credit. The maximum amount of income you can earn and still claim the earned income credit has increased. You may be able to take the credit if you earned less than $36,348 ($38,348 for married filing jointly) if you have two or more qualifying children; $32,001 ($34,001 for married filing jointly) if you have one qualifying child; and, $12,120 ($14,120 for married filing jointly) if you do not have any qualifying children. See Earned Income Credit.

Standard mileage rate. The standard mileage rate for the cost of operating your car is 44.5 cents a mile for all business miles driven during 2006. The standard mileage rate for operating your car during 2006 to get medical care or to move is 18 cents a mile.

Change of address. If you change your mailing address, be sure to notify the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) using Form 8822, Change of Address. Mail it to the Internal Revenue Service Center for your old address. (Addresses for the Service Centers are on the back of the form.)

Third party designee. You can check the Yes box in the Third Party Designee area of your return to authorize the IRS to discuss your return with a friend, family member, or any other person you choose. This allows the IRS to call the person you identified as your designee to answer any questions that may arise during the processing of your tax return. It also allows your designee to perform certain actions. See your income tax package for details.

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.

This publication covers the special tax situations of active members of the U.S. Armed Forces. It does not cover military pensions or veterans' benefits or give the basic tax rules that apply to all taxpayers. For information on military pensions or veterans' benefits, see Publication 525, Taxable and Nontaxable Income. If you need the basic tax rules or information on another subject not covered here, you can check our other free publications. See Publication 910, IRS Guide to Free Tax Services, for a list and descriptions of the different tax publications.

For federal tax purposes, the U.S. Armed Forces includes commissioned officers, warrant officers, and enlisted personnel in all regular and reserve units under control of the Secretaries of the Defense, Army, Navy, and Air Force. The U.S. Armed Forces also includes the Coast Guard. It does not include members of the U.S. Merchant Marine or the American Red Cross.

Members serving in an area designated or treated as a combat zone are granted special tax benefits. In the event an area ceases to be a combat zone (by Presidential Executive Order or by statute), the IRS will do its best to notify you. Many of the relief provisions will end at that time.