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HSA Contributions for the current year can be made through Aoril 15,th of the Following Year.

To claim the American Opportunity credit or Lifetime Learning credit you must pay qualified expenses for yourself, your spouse or dependents claimed as exemptions on your tax return.

Your receipt of your Federal refund might be delayed to the end of February, 2017 if your tax return claimed a earned Income tax credit or the additional child tax credit. Here are some tips to help taxpayers with their refund questions:
Have the right tax information ready before using any of the IRS refund tools. This includes Social Security number, filing status and refund amount.
You don't need to check the IRS website “Where's My Refund” more than once a day as your information will not change. To avoid system delays, the best time to check on refunds is evening and weekends.
There is no need to call the IRS about your refund; the telephone service has the same information that is available on “Where’s My Refund”.

Nine out of 10 taxpayers typically receive refunds between 14 and 21 days, when they use e-file with direct deposit.
Due to the large number of inquiries and to avoid service disruptions, the IRS strongly urges taxpayers to only check on their refunds once a day. IRS systems ("Where's My Refund") are only updated once a day, usually overnight, and the same information is available whether on the internet, IRS2go smartphone app or on IRS toll-free lines (1-800-829-4477).
While "Where's My Refund" is updated nightly, your account will not change that frequently.
The heavy volume of refund inquiries means that the IRS anticipates both "Where's My Refund?" on IRS.gov and the refund feature on the IRS2go phone app will have limited availability during busier periods.
Here are some tips to help taxpayers with their refund questions:
Have the right tax information ready before using any of the IRS refund tools. This includes Social Security number, filing status and refund amount.
You don't need to check the IRS website “Where's My Refund” more than once a day as your information will not change. To avoid system delays, the best time to check on refunds is evening and weekends.
There is no need to call the IRS about your refund; the telephone service has the same information that is available on “Where’s My Refund”.

This safe harbor method is an alternative to the calculation, allocation, and substantiation of actual expenses for purposes of satisfying the requirements of the Internal Revenue Code.
The new optional deduction is capped at $1,500 per year and is based on $5 a square foot for up to 300 square feet.
Homeowners using the new option cannot depreciate the portion of their home used in a trade or business nor deduct actual expenses related to the qualified business use of that home. Also, they may not carryover any excess deductions in any other taxable year.
The current restrictions on the home office deduction, such as the requirement that a home office must be used exclusively and regularly for business and the limit tied to the income derived from the particular business, still apply under the new option.

Rules for every taxpayer:
Must have earned income, such as wages, tips or the income from running a business or farm. Most other types of income, such as retirement pensions, though usually taxable, do not count as earned income.
Must have a Social Security number that is valid for employment for self, spouse and any qualifying children.
A person can get the credit even with a small amount of investment income, such as interest from a bank account. However, the amount of investment income is limited to $3,400.
The filing status used must be single, head of household, married filing jointly or qualifying widow or widower. A taxpayer who files as married filing separately cannot get the credit.
Generally, must be either a U.S. citizen or resident alien. Cannot be a qualifying child of another person. Cannot file Form 2555 or Form 2555-EZ.

!---earned---> The Earned Income Tax Credit is a refundable federal income tax credit for low to moderate income working individuals and families.
Individuals may receive refunds more than what was withheld in federal withholding taxes from their wages.
For the 2016 Tax Year
Earned Income and adjusted gross income (AGI) must each be less than:
$47,955 ($53,505 married filing jointly) with three or more qualifying children $44,648 ($50,198 married filing jointly) with two qualifying children $39,296 ($44,846 married filing jointly) with one qualifying child $14,880 ($20,430 married filing jointly) with no qualifying children
Tax Year 2016 maximum credit: $6,269 with three or more qualifying children $5,572 with two qualifying children $3,373 with one qualifying child $506 with no qualifying children
Investment income must be $3,400 or less for the year.

People who claim the credit, based on having one or more qualifying children, each child must meet the relationship test, age test, residency test and joint return test. Each child must meet all four tests.
Relationship test. The child is the taxpayer’s: •Son or daughter, including an adopted child or child placed for adoption •Stepchild or grandchild •Foster child placed by an authorized placement agency or court •Brother, sister, stepbrother, stepsister, half brother, half sister, or •A descendant of any of them
Age test. At the end of 2016, the child was: •Younger than the taxpayer or the taxpayer’s spouse if filing a joint return and younger than 19 •Younger than the taxpayer or the taxpayer’s spouse if filing a joint return and younger than 24 and a full-time student, or •Any age if permanently and totally disabled
Residency test. The child lived with the taxpayer or the taxpayer’s spouse if filing a joint return in the U.S. for more than half of 2016.
Joint Return test. A qualifying child who files a joint return can only do so to claim a refund with neither the child nor child’s spouse being required to file.
More than one person cannot claim the same qualifying child to claim EITC. If a child meets the rules to be a qualifying child of more than one person, only one person can use that child to claim the EITC. Also, if the child qualifies for both a parent and another person, the other person can only get the credit by having a higher AGI than the parent.

Taxpayers without a qualifying child must meet three additional tests.
Lived in the U.S. for more than half of 2016, at the end of 2016, was at least age 25, but under age 65, cannot qualify as the dependent of another person.

Special Rule for Combat Pay. Combat pay received by members of the military serving in Afghanistan, Iraq and other combat zone localities is usually exempt from tax.
But under a special rule, the taxpayer can choose to count all of this as taxable income when figuring the EITC. In many cases, making this choice enables the person to claim the credit, or if already eligible, claim a larger credit.