There are a lot of new deductions and credits this year it seems (and even some that have been around for a while), that my family and I seem to almost qualify for but don't. For example:

1. First time homebuyer credit: We built, finished, and moved into our new home in February 2009. We lived in a trailer previously that was in my husband's name (which was purchased for almost nothing for the sole purpose of having somewhere to live while we built our house). Seems we should qualify for the credit, but don't. Hardly seems right to me.

2. Adoption credit: We spent quite a bit of money in 2009 working on and finalizing the adoption of my son by my husband. It is my understanding that stepchildren adoptions do not count for this.

3. Vehicle sales tax: We purchased a very low mileage, 2009, preowned car in 2009. But, since it wasn't BRAND NEW, we are out for that deduction.

4. Energy efficient upgrades, etc: We have a lot of energy efficient items in our new home - HVAC, windows, insulation, etc. However, it is my understanding that since we built a new house and weren't remodeling an old house, we don't qualify.


We are on the borderline of itemization and standard deduction, since we paid in quite a bit of mortgage interest, so I am probably going to take the standard deduction unless if something else comes up that I am not aware of yet. I'm sure there are more of these "almost" deductions and credits for us, but those are the main ones that come to mind right now. Am I missing something with any of these, or is it just that I am completely out of luck?