By law, the dollar amounts for a variety of tax provisions must be revised each year to keep pace with inflation. As a result, more than three dozen tax benefits, affecting virtually every taxpayer, are being adjusted for 2009. Key changes affecting 2009 returns, filed by most taxpayers in early 2010, include the following:

• The value of each personal and dependency exemption, available to most taxpayers, is USD3,650, up USD150 from 2008.
• The new standard deduction is USD11,400 for married couples filing a joint return (up USD500), USD5,700 for singles and married individuals filing separately (up USD250) and USD8,350 for heads of household (up USD350). Nearly two out of three taxpayers take the standard deduction, rather than itemizing deductions, such as mortgage interest, charitable contributions and state and local taxes.
• Tax-bracket thresholds increase for each filing status. For a married couple filing a joint return, for example, the taxable-income threshold separating the 15% bracket from the 25% bracket is USD67,900, up from USD65,100 in 2008.
• The maximum earned income tax credit for low and moderate income workers and working families with two or more children is USD5,028, up from USD4,824. The income limit for the credit for joint return filers with two or more children is USD43,415, up from USD41,646.
• The annual gift exclusion rises to USD13,000, up from USD12,000 in 2008.