Many of us are still working in 2008's tax returns and estimates, but, there are some important and useful changes for 2009 that we should be aware of.

401K Employee Contribution Limits
The 2009 employee contribution limit has been increased to $16,500 for those younger than 50, $22,000 for those 50 and older.

IRA Contribution Limits
For 2009, the IRA/Roth IRA contribution limits remain at $5,000 with an additional $1,000 catch up for those 50 and over. Remember, you have until April 15, 2009 to make your 2008 contribution to an IRA. (Not a Roth though.) SIMPLE IRA contribution limits have been raised to $11,500 for those under 50 and $14,000 for those 50 and over. SEP IRA contribution limits have been increased to $49,000 for 2009.

Annual Gift-Tax Exclusion
The annual gift-tax exclusion has increased to $13,000 per donor per donee for 2009. Also, there is a total exclusion for tuition and medical expenses.

Minimum IRA Distributions Suspended
For taxpayers over 70 (probably not many people reading this, but you may have parents or grandparents who qualify) the minimum IRA distribution has been suspended, but ONLY for tax year 2009.

HTH
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Disclosure under IRS Circular 230: To insure compliance with recently released Internal Revenue Rules, this communication was not written or intended to be relied on to avoid federal tax related penalties or for promoting, marketing or recommending to any party any tax related matters addressed herein.