• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Free From Broke

A Personal Finance Blog for Regular Folks

  • Home
  • Personal Finance
  • Debt
  • Saving
  • Investing
    • Best Online Brokerages
  • Taxes
  • Credit Scores

Year End Tax Tips

9 Year End Tax Savings Tips

Published or updated December 11, 2014 by Glen Craig

It’s December and the year will be ending before you know it. Don’t fret, there’s still time to take advantage of some tax saving tips to make your tax burden next April a little less.

Here are 9 year end tax savings tips:

Max Your 401(k)

If you can afford to take the paycheck hit now you can up the percentage of your 401(k) contribution.  Your contributions are tax-free and will lower your taxable salary.

Open or Contribute to a Traditional IRA

For some a traditional IRA may be a better option than a Roth IRA.  With a traditional IRA you get to deduct your contributions from your taxable income.  Have have until April 15th to contribute.

Sell Losing Investments

The sold investment losses can be deducted to offset gains or to reduce your taxable income.  The limit is $3000 though.

Donate to Charity

Donations before Dec. 31st can be deducted on next year’s return.  You have to itemize your deductions to claim this.  Bonus benefit: You might be helping some people out!

Prepay Bills

If you prepay some bills such as mortgage payments or medical bills you can write them off on next year’s return.

Second Chance Economic Stimulus Payments

Some who didn’t qualify for economic stimulus checks earlier in the year may qualify this time due to a life change (marriage, birth, change of income…).

Job Search Expenses

If you searched for a new job (in the same industry you’re in now) you can deduct expenses you incurred such as resume preparation, career counseling, travel, and phone calls.

Tax Relief for Foreclosures

Normally if your home was foreclosed or the mortgage was reduced or restructured you would have to pay taxes on the amount reduced.  Recent legislation has made it so you may not have to pay taxes on the forgiven amount.

Use Up Flexible Spending Plans

You contribute to a flexible spending plan to save on taxes.  But if you don’t use up the contribution amount then you lose the ability to claim it back.  Make sure you claim the full amount before the deadline passes (check with your HR department to see when your company’s deadline to claim is).

Most people don’t like to pay taxes.  You still have some time to take advantage to lower your tax burden.

Bonus Tip (because I thought of it after I first published):

Max out a 529 plan for your kids. Many state plans offer tax advantages for contributing! (check the specific plan for details).

These tips are in part courtesy of our friends at Intuit and TurboTax who were kind enough to provide them.

Filed Under: Taxes Tagged With: Year End Tax Tips

Primary Sidebar

A Little About Me

Glen CraigI'm Glen Craig - I used to live paycheck-to-paycheck, drowning in credit card debt. I turned that all around and now I build wealth rather than debt.

My goal is to make personal finance easy for you.

More ABOUT me.

Join our email list (FREE) and never miss an article!


Free From Broke as seen on

Follow Us

FacebookGoogleTwitterRSS



Follow @freefrombroke

Top Articles

  • Use Google Calendar To Pay Your Bills On Time
  • 9 Things to Do When You Retire
  • Side Hustle-Make Extra Money Cleaning Homes
  • Four Ways You Can Pay Off Your Home Mortgage Faster
  • Don’t Forget Your 401(k) When You Leave Your Job! Here’s What You Can Do With It
  • Your 4 Step Guide on How to Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck
  • What Is A Mortgage Escrow Account?
  • This is Why Your House Isn’t Selling – Here’s How to Finally Get Your House Sold
  • 7 Ways to Get Rich Quick
  • What is Renter’s Insurance and Why You Need It
  • What Is a Probate Lawyer and When Would You Use One?

Recent Articles

  • Money Market Account VS Savings Account – What’s the Difference?
  • Five Ways Fantasy Baseball is Like Personal Finance
  • Tools to Help Organize Your Taxes
  • Don't Let Your Goals Fizzle Out! - 5 Reasons Goals Fail, and What You Can Do To Make Yours Succeed
  • What Do You Think of New Year's Resolutions?

Tools to Improve Your Finances

  • Online High Yield Savings
  • All About Online Checking Accounts – Why Pay More Fees Than You Have To
  • Personal Capital Review - A One Stop Financial Center
  • Online Brokerages That Won't Break Your Bank
  • Credit Karma Review - Get Your Credit Score and More
  • CD Rates
  • Savings Rates
  • Mortgage and Refinance Rates
TurboTax Review HR Block Review Shoeboxed Review

Follow Us On Pinterest!

Follow Free From Broke's board Most RePinned and Popular {Free From Broke} on Pinterest.

Footer

More

  • About
  • Archives
  • Contact Us
  • Get Our Newsletter

More Recent Articles

  • Think Long Term When Shopping Black Friday and Cyber Monday
  • 10 Essential Tips For Shopping Black Friday And Cyber Monday That Will Save You Money
  • How to Improve Your Credit Score Fast
  • What is a Refund Anticipation Loan (RAL) and is it Worth It?
  • Paying Taxes with a Credit Card: Pros and Cons

Disclaimer

Free From Broke is for general information or entertainment purposes only and does not constitute professional financial advice. Be smart and do your own research or contact an independent financial professional for advice regarding your specific situation.

In accordance with FTC guidelines, we state that we have a financial relationship with companies mentioned in this website. This may include receiving access to free products and services for product and service reviews and giveaways.

© 2007–2023 Free From Broke A Personal Finance Blog For Regular Folks – All rights reserved.

No content on this site may be reused in any fashion without written permission from FreeFromBroke.com | Privacy Policy | Sitemap

Copyright © 2023 · Metro Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in settings.

Go to mobile version
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.