"Some taxpayers may be confused because the usual extension of these provisions were not approved by Congress until after the IRS had already printed its forms in November for the 2006 tax year," said Elaine Dickinson, assistant vice president of BoatU.S. Government Affairs.

"We've been hearing from our members that even their own accountants are unaware of the extension since it did not appear on the printed 2006 Schedule A (Form 1040)," said Dickinson. A notice on the IRS Web site, http://www.irs.gov, outlines the so-called "extender provisions."

The notice also lets taxpayers know that returns with these deductions will not be processed until Feb. 3 to give the agency time to incorporate the latest legislation into its processing systems for '06 returns. To get the deduction, filers must itemize their deductions.

"Taxpayers may deduct either sales taxes or state income taxes, but not both," said Dickinson. The deduction for state and local general sales taxes may be claimed on Schedule A (Form 1040), line 5, "State and local income taxes." Enter "ST" on the dotted line to the left of line 5 to indicate you are claiming the general sales tax deduction instead of the deduction for state and local income tax, according to the IRS.

For more on state tax deductions, you can download IRS Publication 600, which includes state-by-state tax tables, by going to http://www.irs.gov or by calling 1-800-829-1040, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. weekdays.