6. 'Enron' retirement catch-up
Before the subprime mortgage mess dominated the news, all eyes were focused on workers who lost their retirement plan money because of corporate improprieties. In an effort to help those individuals, a provision in the Pension Protection Act of 2006 allows certain workers to make larger IRA contributions to make up part of what they lost in their company retirement accounts.

Under this law, dubbed the Enron IRA catch-up provision, if you participated in a 401(k) plan and your employer went into bankruptcy in a prior year, you may be able to contribute up to $7,000 (instead of the general $4,000 or $5,000 limits) to your IRA.

The key, though, is that your employer must have been indicted or convicted in connection with business transactions related to the company's bankruptcy that wiped out employee accounts, hence the Enron nickname. The law also requires that:

• You were a participant in a 401(k) plan under which the employer matched at least 50 percent of your contributions to the plan with stock of the company.
• You were a participant in the 401(k) plan six months before the employer filed for bankruptcy.
• The employer (or a controlling corporation) must have been a debtor in a bankruptcy case in an earlier year.

If you are eligible for and use the Enron IRA option, which will be in effect through 2009, you can't also use the 50-or-older add-on; that is, you can't put an extra $1,000 into your account on top of the $7,000.

You can find more on all this provision and other IRA contribution rules in IRS Publication 590.

7. Home energy and tax savings
A carryover tax break from 2006 might be able to help cut your 2007 tax bill, too.

The Energy Tax Incentives Act of 2005 offers taxpayers a tax credit for making energy-efficient home improvements. Credits, which reduce your tax bill dollar for dollar, range from $50 for the installation of a whole-house circulating fan to $2,000 for conversion to a solar water-heating system.

Relatively simple upgrades, such as replacing drafty windows and doors, adding insulation and replacing an old heating or air conditioning unit will allow you to shave several hundred dollars off your tax bill.

The one drawback to this tax break, which expired at the end of 2007, is that any energy-efficient home improvements you made last year must be combined with any you made in 2006. And the two-year total allowed is only $500.

"It came into effect in 2006," says Hodson, "so if you took the full credit then there's nothing left."

You can, however, claim more generous credits if you added solar water, heat or power systems to your house last year. And solar-related credits continue for 2008.

8. Fuel-efficient auto tax savings
Another continuing credit for energy conscious taxpayers is the one allowed for hybrid vehicles. Tax credits, depending on the make and model of the vehicle, range from a couple hundred dollars to several thousand.

However, the credit phases out for the fuel-efficient vehicles once a carmaker sells 60,000 hybrids; eventually the credits are completely eliminated.

That happened to Toyota in 2007, meaning you'll need to pay attention to when you bought your vehicle to determine your precise tax savings. If you purchased a Toyota or one of its Lexus model hybrids after Oct. 1, 2007, you get no tax credit.

The tax break for qualifying automakers continues through 2010, but the credit amounts will be reduced for some vehicles. Honda credits, for example, were cut in half Jan. 1.