From Cynthia Scott of OMC Financial Services:
**If you always receive a large refund, adjust your withholdings; nationally the average refund is $3000
**If you have received unexpected taxable income make sure you consult with your accountant to made determine if you need to pay estimated taxes by January 15, 2012 to avoid penalties
**Defer income unless you will be in a higher tax bracket next year; however be aware that the lower tax rates are set to expire in 2013
**Review your portfolio and consider taking any capital gains against losses; remember only $3000 worth of loss can be taken in any one tax year; if you have a profit and want to keep the investment, you can immediately buy it back
**Be careful before buying a mutual fund that might be paying capital gains unless you have losses to offset it; most companies have declared or paid their capital gains, but still check
**Accelerate your deductions, such as state and property taxes; however, if you are subject to Alternative Minimum taxes be aware that some of your deductions such as property taxes will be excluded
**Convert your non-deductible interest to deductible interest; credit card interest is non deductible, but a home equity loan interest is deductible
**Itemized your medical deductions, including long term care insurance premiums, to determine how much you can use; the first 7.5% of deductions are not eligible.
**If you are 70 ½ or older , consider withdrawing more than your required minimum deduction from your IRA to make a charitable contribution; it may reduce your required distribution in 2012 since next year’s distribution is based upon the December 31 value
**Donate appreciated property or stock to a charitable organization
**If you are contributing to a 401k, 403b, Simple IRA or any other type of salary deduction plan, check with your employer to see if you can still maximize your contributions for 2011
**Begin a 529 plan
