How Do You Spell R-E-L-I-E-F?

Recently, the Congress enacted a number of changes in the federal tax code of interest to residents of the South Shore and the Cape & Islands -- from relief for small business to new savings incentives for middle-income families. 

Questions often arise about some of the most popular of those provisions, including child tax and education credits, Roth IRAs, capital gains rate reductions, the home sale and estate tax exclusions. 

Click here for some basic background on the provisions for tax year 2004. 

When new tax rules are released, they are added to the IRS virtual library.  Since scrolling for information, for all its faults, beats trudging through public libraries and Post Offices, click for a list of more federal tax forms than you ever dreamed possible -- or here for Massachusetts state tax forms.