Tax Changes for Kids  One of the most overlooked provisions of
the 2006 tax legislation had to do with new rules governing the
"kiddie tax."  Under the old rules, the law allowed children
younger than 14 to receive as much as $800 in tax-free
investment income. The child didn't have to pay taxes on
interest, dividends, or capital gains (either short- or long-
term) up to this amount. The child would have to pay taxes on
the next $800, but at a lower tax rate than his or her parents
paid. Once his or her investment income exceeded $1,600, the
child was then required to pay taxes at his or her parents' tax
rate.  Before the recent changes in the kiddie-tax rules, age 14
was the magic number. If the child was younger than 14, you had
to be careful of the kiddie-tax rules if you were trying to
shift income from higher-bracket taxpayers to kids. You
generally didn't want to allow substantial gains or other
investment income to be reported under the child's income until
after he or she turned 14 and the kiddie-tax r