Congress has passed and President Obama has signed into law HR 3548, the Worker, Homeownership & Business Assistance Act of 2009. This law extends unemployment compensation benefits. "The extension provides for 14 weeks of extended benefit coverage for every state and an additional 6 weeks, for a total of 20 weeks, in high unemployment states where unemployment is over 8.5%," reports Alison Doyle, About.com's Guide to Job Searching.

The law provides a number of tax law changes as well. Some extend or enhance current tax breaks, while other changes are designed as revenue raisers. Here's highlights of the tax changes. Read more...

The maximum foreign earned income exclusion for 2010 is $91,500, an increase of $100 over the 2009 maximum.

For the year 2010, the personal exemption amount is $3,650 for yourself, your spouse and each dependent you are eligible to claim. This amount is unchanged from the 2009 amount. However there's one significant change for 2010. Unlike previous years, personal exemptions will not be reduced as a person's income increases.

For the year 2010, the maximum adoption tax credit will be $12,170. The IRS updated this figure as part of their annual update for several inflation-indexed figures as released in Revenue Procedure 2009-50.

The adoption credit is scheduled to sunset at the end of the year 2010, and revert back to its pre-2001 dollar limit of $5,000, or $6,000 if a special needs child is adopted.