I’m so proud of my husband. He has assembled all of our tax documents and we’ve already dropped them off at our accountant’s office.

This is a first. This tax season we won’t be scrambling at the last minute to get our return done.

If you’re doing the same – getting your tax returns ready now – I thought you might also benefit from seeing the answers to a couple of questions that folks recently sent in during an online discussion I had with James Dupree, the media relations specialist in the Baltimore field office for the Internal Revenue Service.

The first tax question comes from a mother in Mount Pleasant, S.C. She asked: “My son is a college student with unsubsidized Stafford loans. He pays the interest on the loans quarterly so it is not added to the loan now. We claim him as a dependent. He has some income from wages, interest and dividends. Can he deduct the interest on the Stafford loans from his 1040A?”

Dupree says that the son cannot claim a student loan interest deduction for any year in which someone claims him as a dependent. The maximum deductible interest on a qualified student loan is $2,500 per return. Depending on your income, the deduction may be reduced or not allowed.

During online chats, there increasingly have been more questions about the Alternative Minimum Tax. The AMT is a separately figured tax that eliminates many deductions and credits. It was created to make sure the insanely rich don’t get off without paying some taxes. But many middle- and upper-income people are being hit with the AMT.

Here’s one worried taxpayer. “Are there any general guidelines for who is covered by the AMT? I’m single, no dependents, and made around $65,000 last year. I also have heavy deductions, including over $15,000 in medical expenses.”

You may owe AMT if, among other things, you claimed itemized deductions such as state and local income and property taxes, interest on home equity loans used for nonresidential purposes, medical expenses and miscellaneous job and investment expenses.

The IRS has created a simple online tool with a list of questions to help you determine if you have to pay the AMT. You can find the “AMT Assistant” by going to www.irs.gov.