First of all the standard deductions will be increased for most taxpayers. The increased amounts are reflected by the status you file for example:

* Married couples filing jointly will be able to take a standard deduction of $11,400.
* For Singles and Married couples filing separately they can take a standard deduction of $5,700.

Other changes you can expect in this year are:

* You can contribute more in your 401K-retirement account and your IRA account before having to pay tax on it.
* The mileage deduction has decreased by 2.5cents.
* The gift tax exclusion has increased by $1,000.
* The earned income credit has increased more than $2,000 from 2008.

These changes are just some of the new tax rules. To make sure you are benefiting from all of the changes that will be put into place you should prepare your taxes online. Online services can be a great help in keeping you up to date on the ever changing tax laws.

Most services ask you a series of questions based on you’re filing status and tax situation to make sure all of the necessary tax forms have been completed and are accurate.

Preparing your tax return is stressful enough, wouldn’t it be great to have a guarantee that your return is accurate and you have been guaranteed the biggest refund possible according to the new laws and amounts that can change every single year.

1. Your credit card company cannot increase the interest rate or fees (APR) on your existing balance for one year after the account is opened. In other words, the so-called “retroactive rate increases” are now prohibited.

2. There are some exceptions to the above-stated rule. The card issuer can increase the APR for an existing balance if: (A) they disclose such an increase when the account was opened; (B) you’re using a variable-rate card, and the published index has increased; (C) you have completed a pre-arranged “workout” plan, such as a debt-reduction agreement; or (D) you are delinquent on a payment by 60 days or more.

3. Once your credit card account has been open for more than a year, the company can raise your interest rate. But the new / higher rate can only be applied to new purchases made after the first year. Additionally, this kind of rate increase must be disclosed to you at the time you open your account.

4. If you have a card with multiple interest rates, any amount you pay above the minimum payment must be applied to the balance with the highest interest rate first. For example, if you have a low rate for a balance that you transferred from another card, but a higher rate on all new transactions, any amount you pay over the minimum must be applied to the higher-interest balance first. This obviously works to your advantage.

5. The new credit card laws also prohibit what is commonly referred to as double-cycle billing, or two cycle billing. This is when they assign interest rate charges for the current balance as well as the average daily balance from the last billing period. Starting in February 22, 2010, the new laws will outlaw these double-cycle billing practices.

6. Some changes are designed to improve disclosures made by your credit card company. For example, when they send you your statement, it must include a box that shows you how much you’ve paid in interest and fees during the current year. Your statement must also clearly explain the consequences of making only the minimum payment each month.

7. Your statement must also tell you the monthly payment that would be required to pay off your existing balance within three years (including interest). This disclosure is particularly helpful for people who want to eliminate their credit card balances altogether, perhaps through a debt-reduction plan.

8. Your statements must also clearly show the due date for your next payment, as well as any fees that might be imposed for late payments. It must show the date after which you would encounter such a penalty.

9. Card companies can no longer change the payment due date from one month to the next. In the past, this was one of their favorite tricks used to impose penalties. Going forward, the due date for your payments must be on the same day each month.

10. To piggyback on the change mentioned above, your credit card company must accept your payment if it is received by 5 PM local time on the due date. In other words, they can no longer establish early morning deadlines as a way of imposing a late-payment fees.

11. After February 22, 2010, your credit card company will no longer allow purchases that exceed your credit limit, unless you “opt in” to such an arrangement. This was another one of the industry’s favorite tools for generating penalty fees. In the past, if you made purchases beyond your limit, the card company would allow the transaction and charge you a hefty fee. Going forward, however, you must choose to participate in such over-the-limit processing. Otherwise, these transactions will be denied at the point-of-sale.

This is a guest post from Adam Jusko, founder of IndexCreditCards.com, an information and comparison site for credit cards that maintains a list of over 1200 cards. You can follow Adam on Twitter for quick credit tips and opinions. I’ve mentioned Index Credit Cards many times before, most notably in my post from 2006 called “The Only Credit Card Guide You’ll Ever Need”.

Last May President Obama signed into law a sweeping set of rules and regulations concerning the business practices of credit card issuers. Known as the Credit Card Act, the new laws
promised a level playing field where consumers would be treated more fairly and credit card terms would be easier to understand.

But, much like your favorite credit card agreement, the law had something nasty buried in the fine print — no part of the law would take effect immediately. Instead, certain pieces of the law didn’t take effect until August, and many others have an effective date of February 2010. Credit card issuers used the window between the law’s signing and its actual enforcement to raise rates, slash credit limits, or even completely take your card away.

Card issuers claim the new rules restrict their ability to price cards based on risk, and will lead to higher prices for everyone. Politicians might call the card issuers’ reactions to the new law “unintended consequences,” and tell you that leveling the playing field unfortunately means that some people get leveled on the way toward a fairer marketplace. (Actually, no politician would ever say that.)

What’s the truth? What exactly do these new laws do? And, what can you expect in the coming years when you use your credit cards or attempt to get new ones?

Let’s start with what the law actually says. It’s long, so I’ll bullet point it as much as possible. (Go here if you want to read it in all its glory.)

Now playing
Here’s what went into effect in August of 2009:

* Credit card issuers must give you 45 days notice if they intend to raise your rates. Further, they must allow you to “opt out” of the rate increase and pay your existing balance under the old rate terms.

* Credit card issuers must send bills at least 21 days before the due date.

What it means: Credit card issuers can no longer jack up your rates with little warning, and you now have the option to decline the rate increase. However, declining an increase means you can no longer use the card and it gives the issuer the freedom to increase your minimum payment to either twice its previous level or to a level that guarantees the card will be paid off within five years. So, if you decline, be sure you have a better card option going forward.

Coming soon
Next up are the regulations due to kick in next month. I’ll take them in chunks, based on rules that naturally go together:

* Credit card rates can’t be increased on outstanding balances — except for the increase that happens when a 0% or other low interest introductory rate expires on newly-issued cards or when a customer is 60 days late on a payment.

* If a customer is 60 days late on a payment and an interest rate is increased, the issuer must dial the rate back to the original level if the customer pays the past-due payments and makes 6 straight months of on-time minimum payments.

* Card rates can not be increased in the first year of a card agreement (unless there is a limited-time low-interest introductory rate as part of the original card offer).

* Low-interest introductory rate offers must last at least 6 months.

* Customer payments must be applied to higher-interest balances first.

* If a card is marketed as “fixed rate,” the card issuer must reveal exactly how long the rate is guaranteed to remain the same.

* Credit card issuers can not use “double-cycle billing,” a practice that allowed issuers to charge interest based on the average balance from the past two months, even if last month’s balance was paid.

What it means: Out of all the new rules, the ones above are probably the greatest victory for consumers, and probably the most harmful to card issuers’ profits. In general, they say that any purchase you make must be charged interest only at the card’s interest rate when the purchase was made. Even if the issuer hikes your rate, the higher rate only would apply to new purchases going forward. Credit card issuers are really screaming about this — they believe it stops them from penalizing bad customers who turn into bigger credit risks, and they threaten that it will stop them from accepting many consumers altogether.

From my perspective, it’s simple fairness — even if a person becomes a bigger credit risk, I see no reason issuers should be able to “bait and switch” by increasing the rates on previous purchases made under different terms. This practice has forced many credit card customers to get into desperate financial straits. What card issuers may be missing in their anger is the possibility that fewer cardholders will default on their cards under these regulations, because they won’t suddenly be saddled with payments that are double those required previously.

Here’s the next set of rules:

* Payment due dates must be the same each month. If a due date falls on a weekend or holiday, the due date must change to the following business day.

* Issuers can’t charge fees for payments by certain methods. For example, issuers can not charge customers more if they pay by phone than if they pay online.

* Issuers can’t allow customers to go over their credit limits and then charge “over the limit fees” unless the customer has first “opted in” — specifically asking for the service.

* Issuers must include a place on the bill that shows customers how long it would take to pay off their balances if only the minimum required payment was paid each month. (Other similar disclosure rules are still being developed.)

What it means: Most of these fall under the “sneaky tricks” portion of the rules, in order to stop issuers from charging you fees for things that seem quite reasonable. For example, you shouldn’t be charged a late fee if your payment can’t be delivered on a due date that happens to be a Sunday, and card issuers shouldn’t be giving you a credit limit and then allowing you to go over that limit as a “service” that charges you an extra fee.

The last two rules are targeted at specific cardholder groups:

* Issuers may not charge upfront fees that are greater than 25% of a card’s credit limit.

* Issuers may not issue cards to people under 21, unless the customer has proof of income or has a co-signer who accepts responsibility for the card.

What it means: The first point is targeted at “subprime” cards for those with poor credit. A common industry practice when targeting bad credit customers has been to offer a low credit limit and then charge upfront fees that eat up most of the limit. For example, you sign up for a card with a $500 limit, but there are $450 in fees in order to get the card, so you start off with a $450 balance and only $50 in actual spending power. Desperate customers have been willing to take this deal, but no more.

The second point may kill the college student credit card market. Card issuers have long targeted college students, trying to “get them early” in hopes of creating brand loyalty. Lawmakers felt too many students were getting cards they couldn’t pay for, leaving college with thousands of dollars in debt.