Year-end Tax Planning Archives

2026 Year-End Tax Checklist: 12 Ways to Save Before December 31

By Office Staff|2026-10-27T19:10:02-07:00October 26, 2026|Categories: Tax Planning|Tags: Annual Gift Tax Exclusion, Charitable Donations, Itemized Deductions, SALT Deduction, Trump Account, Vehicle Expense, Year-end Tax Planning|0 Comments

The end of 2026 is fast approaching, which means the window for taking advantage of certain tax-saving opportunities is getting smaller. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R. 1), signed into law in July 2025, extended several existing tax breaks and introduced new deductions that may help individual taxpayers reduce their 2026 federal income tax liability. With some planning, you may be able to take advantage of these provisions before the year ends.

Here at SWC, we hate to see anyone pay more in taxes than they’re legally obligated to. That’s why we offer year-end tax projection appointments for our clients from October through December. During these meetings, we review your finances and estimate your tax liability. We also look for opportunities to reduce the amount you may owe when you file your return.

To help you get started, we’ve put together a dozen tax-saving tips worth considering before Dec. 31, 2026. Some involve relatively simple adjustments, while others may require help from our CPAs. All are intended to help you make informed decisions about your taxes and put more of your money toward building long-term wealth.

Tip No. 1: Review Your Tax Withholdings and Estimated Payments

One of the easiest ways to avoid an unpleasant surprise at tax time is to review how much federal income tax you’ve already paid for 2026. If your employer withholds taxes from your paycheck, or you make quarterly estimated tax payments, you’ll want to make sure you’ve paid enough to avoid an underpayment penalty.

You can avoid the federal underpayment penalty by paying at least one of the following amounts through withholding and timely estimated payments:

90 percent of your 2026 tax liability.
100 percent of your 2025 tax liability.
110 percent of your 2025 tax liability if your 2025 adjusted gross income (AGI) exceeded $150,000, or $75,000 if you’re married filing separately.

These are general safe-harbor rules. Other requirements and exceptions may apply depending on your circumstances, which we can cover with you during your year-end tax projection appointment.

SWC Recommends: If you received unexpected income, sold appreciated investments, or experienced a significant change in your financial situation, you may need to adjust your tax payments before year-end.

One option is to increase the federal income tax withheld from your remaining paychecks. Unlike estimated tax payments, which count when paid, withholding is typically treated as though it occurred evenly throughout the year. That distinction may help reduce an underpayment penalty resulting from insufficient payments earlier in 2026.

We here at SWC can prepare a year-end tax projection to estimate what you owe and help you determine whether adjusting your withholding or estimated payments makes sense.

Tip No. 2: Consider Bunching Your Itemized Deductions

Every year, you have a choice between taking the standard deduction or itemizing eligible expenses such as mortgage interest, charitable contributions, medical expenses, and state and local taxes.

For 2026, the federal standard deduction is: Continue reading… Continue reading… Continue reading…

Why a Year-End Tax Projection Can Be One of Your Most Useful Planning Tools

By Office Staff|2026-10-08T15:25:14-07:00October 1, 2026|Categories: Tax Planning|Tags: Year-end Tax Planning|0 Comments

In the final months of the year, you probably know much more about your financial picture than you did back in January. Your income is taking shape, business results are clearer, investment gains and losses have accumulated. Maybe a property has been bought or sold, or you have retired, changed jobs, relocated, welcomed a new family member, or experienced another financial change.

Bottom line: Your tax picture has likely been changing, and that’s what makes the dozen or so weeks leading up to Dec. 31 particularly useful for tax planning. Instead of waiting until your tax return is prepared to find out where you stand, a year-end tax projection provides an earlier look at your expected tax liability and helps identify issues or planning opportunities while the tax year is still open.

Tax Preparation Looks Back, A Tax Projection Looks Ahead

Tax return preparation and tax projections serve different purposes. When your tax return is prepared, the year has already ended. Most of the income has been earned, transactions have occurred, and end-of-year deadlines have passed. The job at that point is largely to determine how the tax rules apply to what happened during the previous year.

A year-end tax projection happens earlier. It uses information available now, together with reasonable estimates for the remainder of the year, to develop a working picture of your expected tax position. That distinction helps because knowing about a potential issue before year-end may give us time to help you evaluate your options. Discovering the same issue during tax season may simply tell you what already happened.

A Lot About Your Finances Can Change in a Year

Your prior-year tax return provides useful information, but it does not necessarily predict what will happen this year. Consider what may have changed since your last return.

Perhaps you started a new job, received a raise, accepted a bonus, or benefited from another form of compensation. You might have started or sold a business, experienced a substantial change in business income, sold real estate, or received income from a new source. Your investment portfolio, including any cryptocurrency you possess, may have generated significant gains or losses. Retirement even could have changed the Continue reading… Continue reading… Continue reading…

Last-Minute Moves for Small Businesses to Reduce 2024 Federal Income Tax

By Office Staff|2024-11-06T11:53:01-08:00November 6, 2024|Categories: Business Taxes|Tags: Individual Retirement Account, Qualified Business Income Deduction, Tax Planning, Year-end Tax Planning|1 Comment

As the clock ticks down toward the end of the 2024 tax year, tax-saving opportunities are about to disappear. If you’re a business owner or entrepreneur, you still have time to implement a few tax-saving strategies, but you’d better hurry — time is running out.

In this two-part series, we share tax-saving strategies you can implement prior to the end of the tax year to reduce your tax obligation for 2024. In Part 1, we focused on strategies for individual taxpayers. In Part 2 of this series, we shift our focus to tax-saving strategies for business owners, starting with tax-favored retirement plans.

Contribute to a Tax-Favored Retirement Plan

By contributing to a tax-favored retirement plan, you can reduce your business’s taxable income and allow your contributions to grow tax-free until you withdraw the money. As a business owner, you have several options:

Contribute to an Individual Retirement Account (IRA). This is the simplest option, but it also has the lowest cap at $7,000 for 2024. If you’re over the age of 50, you can make an additional $1,000 catch-up contribution.
Create a Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) plan. With a SEP, you can contribute up to 20 percent of your net self-employment income for 2024. If you are employed by your own corporation, you can contribute up to 25 percent of your salary. The maximum contribution in either case is $69,000.
Establish a 401(k) plan. A 401(k) plan offers the same benefits as a SEP plan but also allows for matching employer contributions, meaning you can move more pre-tax money into the plan.
Use a SIMPLE IRA. SIMPLE stands for Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees. A SIMPLE IRA (Individual Retirement Account) can be a good choice if your business income is modest.

Contact us for information about your options for 2024 and to explore long-term solutions that may reduce your tax bill and accelerate the rate at which you build wealth in the future.

Remember: If your business has employees, you may need to cover them too.

Participating in a Tax Projection Meeting in November or December can help you estimate your 2024 tax liability and adjust your withholding or calculate an estimated tax payment to minimize any potential underpayment penalty.

To schedule a year-end Tax Projection Meeting with SWC Founding Partner Marni Walker, please call our office at (858) 487-4580.

To schedule with Founding Partner Laura Stees, visit www.SWC.cpa/Contact, click “Schedule an Appointment,” then select “Tax Projection” to choose a convenient day and time.

Maximize your Section 179 Deductions

If you need equipment or software for your business, you can write off the cost up to the Section 179 deduction limit of $1.22 million for 2024. Most types of personal property and off-the-shelf software used for business are eligible for Section 179 deductions.

Section 179 deductions also can be claimed for the following: Continue reading… Continue reading… Continue reading…

2021 Year-End Tax-planning Tips for Individuals

By Office Staff|2021-12-08T14:55:56-08:00November 17, 2021|Categories: Taxes|Tags: American Rescue Plan Act, Child Tax Credits, Cryptocurrency, Plug-in Vehicle Credit, Solar Credit, Telework, Year-end Tax Planning|0 Comments

When it comes to your personal finances, what you do this year will make a big difference in how much state and federal tax you pay next year (on April 15). It could also have an impact on your net worth for decades into the future.

That’s especially true this year when so many factors are likely to have impacted your taxes and finances — the lingering global pandemic, new tax laws, business slowdowns and shutdowns, supply chain disruptions, inflation, major shifts in government policies, and more. In this environment of relative disorder and uncertainty, having a well-thought-out tax plan in place empowers you to successfully meet the challenges, capitalize on new opportunities, and move forward with confidence.

Here at SWC, we encourage you to schedule a year-end tax and financial strategy session with your CPA. And if you are a client of ours, you already know that we can help you reassess your taxes and finances, adjust your plan to optimize outcomes, and take any year-end steps that can save you money and protect and grow your net worth.

In the meantime, whether you’re a client of ours or you work with another firm, here’s a look at some issues to consider as you approach year-end 2021: Continue reading… Continue reading… Continue reading…