Every one of these has a deadline before the return is filed
Tax season is too late for tax planning
The moves that save money happen during the year, not on April 14th. Preparation records what happened. Planning changes what happens.
Up to 85% of your Social Security benefit can be taxable
Depending on your other income, most of the benefit can land on the return as taxable income. Most retirees learn this from the bill.
Miss a required distribution and you keep only 75% of it
RMDs are not optional and the penalty is real. A calendar reminder is the entire fix.
A big income year can raise your Medicare premium
IRMAA runs on a two-year lag, so almost nobody connects the premium to the decision that caused it. Income timing only works in advance.
You may be paying 15.3% self-employment tax you don't owe
Entity structure sets the rate, and many owners never revisit it. A strategically timed S-election can save thousands — timing is the operative word.
The deductions are legal and available. Are you taking them?
Home office. Vehicle. Health insurance. Retirement contributions. Ordinary provisions, routinely left on the table because nobody tracked the number.
“I probably spent that.”
The IRS does not accept probably. A deduction you cannot document is a deduction you do not have.
Your retirement account is a deduction you have to choose
SEP-IRA, Solo 401(k), SIMPLE IRA — all allow far more than a traditional IRA. Nothing happens automatically; the plan has to be opened and funded.
December 31 is a hard deadline, in most cases
Bunching, loss harvesting, retirement contributions, income timing. A few provisions reach into the new year. Most do not.
Your advisors are working in silos, and so is your tax bill
CPA, CFP®, bookkeeper, attorney. Do they know each other? The introduction is free and often worth more than any single strategy.
Four advanced moves worth asking about
One year makes the difference
Short-term gains are taxed as ordinary income. Hold past a year and you reach the 0%, 15% or 20% rates.
Losing positions have value
Harvest losses against gains — but buy back inside 30 days and the wash-sale rule erases the loss.
Death resets the cost basis
Heirs generally inherit at today's value, not what you paid decades ago.
Give from the IRA, not the checkbook
A qualified charitable distribution goes straight to the charity and never appears as income.
Five questions to ask — tick them off as you go
Take the checklist with you
Two pages: the ten tips, the four advanced moves, five questions, and space to write your own numbers before year-end.
Questions? Frank Gramlich, CPA — Xavier Financial Services / Xavier Tax · frank.gramlich2@xaviertax.com · (561) 739-4320 · xavierfinancialservices.com
Educational only. Not tax, legal, accounting, investment or insurance advice. Tax rules and dollar limits change and individual circumstances vary — consult your own qualified professionals before acting. Frank Gramlich, CPA provides tax and accounting services through Xavier Financial Services / Xavier Tax, independent of New Life Financial Planning, LLC.