It’s still December, and that means you still have a little time to make some last minute fixes to this year’s tax picture. Unless you’re one of the lucky few who’s sure they’re going to get a refund, consider doing one or all of the following to cut down your tax burden a little - and maybe change your tax due to money in your pocket.

1) Did you fully fund your IRA this year? What about your 401k?

Now, this only applies to traditional IRAs and 401ks, so if you have a Roth IRA or a Roth 401k, it’s not going to help you at tax time - this year. But if you do have a traditional IRA or 401k, and you have any extra cash, this is where you want to put it.

2) Do you have any extra items around the house you no longer want? Or - dare I say it? - did you get any gifts this holiday season that you’re less than thrilled with but can’t return?

List the items on a sheet of paper, with estimated values next to them - what you think you could get at a garage sale or on eBay - and add it up. Now donate the items to your local Good Will (or similar agency) and make sure you get a receipt. Staple the receipt to your list of items. You can now deduct that total value from your taxes.

3) Do you have a favorite charity? Or even one you like just a little?

Besides donating goods (#2), you can donate cash. If the donation is over $25, get a receipt from the charity.

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Find out more about your taxes at http://www.helpwithincometax.com/.
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This entry was posted on Friday, December 22nd, 2006 at 10:50 pm and is filed under Tax Deduction. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.