Now that Thanksgiving has passed, you can no longer deny the coming approach of the end of the year. Even if you are one of those who find it ridiculous when stores get stocked with Christmas goodies before Halloween, they are now appropriate.

That also means there is not much time to make some moves to affect your final 2016 tax picture. Even though it may feel late, there are some things you can do to make a significant difference. Of course, in the spirit of the season it should be noted that one of these is making charitable contributions. There are others, though, and if you would like to discuss them, please don’t hesitate to contact us for an end-of-year tax planning session.

I know that most of you who read that are making a mental calculation to the middle of April and figure this is something you do not have to worry about yet. I get that, and it is certainly possible that not worrying until a few months into the new year has not hurt you in the past. As a tax preparer, though, I assure you that those who pay attention to these matters before the calendar (and government) deems it necessary do better with their finances.

This is not strictly a tax issue, either, and may be even more of a bookkeeping and record-retaining one. Even if you are an individual who has most of your tax matters taken care of through your paychecks and W2, there are still some things you will want to know, and some documents you will want to have handy, come tax time. Some simple due diligence will keep you on top of such things so that there is NO worry come tax time.

If you have been keeping on top of things along the way, there can be little extra work in having your taxes prepared. And sure, there again are many people who feel no time crunch when gathering a few documents when tax time comes, even if they paid no attention to their financial picture during the year. Yes, this results in a legal tax return, but I can almost guarantee that some tax benefit is being missed with that strategy. It is simply unavoidable when you let financial transactions (and their documentation) become an afterthought.

This can be minor for that type of individual mentioned above, but every year I see businesses that run in the same manner. I completely understand how this happens - business owners do not go into business to keep close track of their finances, they start because their interests lie elsewhere. And if I am pretty sure most individuals are missing out on something by being lax with their finances, what is being missed out on is MUCH higher when it comes to running a business.

Again, I know these are things that very few want to keep in the front of their minds. More mindfulness, though, only leads to positive outcomes. So if implementing some new bookkeeping or record-retention strategies is something else that this time of year is making you think about, please contact us about that, as well.