Maximize your pre-tax contributions to work retirement plans, and to an HSA if eligible. If your health insurance re-enrollment happens before December 1, you can switch to an HSA-eligible plan to make HSA contributions as though you were enrolled in that plan for the entire year, so long as you remain enrolled in an HSA-eligible plan for all of 2027. (You do have to watch that you don’t have disqualifying coverage, such as an FSA, from your spouse.)
If you give money to charity, keep receipts/end-of-year statements. You can deduct up to $2000 of charitable donations (cash/card/etc., but not *items*) even without itemizing.
If you’re likely to itemize, then also track any items you give to charity. Your itemized charity deduction is subject to a 0.5% AGI floor, though (meaning you subtract 0.5% of your AGI and only get to claim the remainder as an itemized deduction). If you give more than a few hundred dollars worth of stuff, you’ll need to pay attention to the documentation requirements.
Harvest any capital losses that you can this year (if doing so is within your investment strategy).
It does not make sense to start or pivot into a business solely to save taxes, and it doesn’t make a *lot* of sense to buy equipment/etc. that you don’t need (for the etsy store) solely to save taxes. Likewise it doesn’t make sense to give to charity solely to save taxes. Taxes are a percentage of every dollar, so any kind of deduction is still losing money; it’s just a *discount*.
Be aware that you’ll be hit with the 3.8% Net Investment Income Tax on your income past $250k AGI. (It applies to all of that income past $250k, since you have less than $250k of non-investment income.)
Adjust your withholding so that you have paid in 110% of last year’s tax liability (line 24 of your 1040). You can wait until 4/15/27 to pay the remaining tax due, though I recommend estimating how much that will be so that you can prepare and have the money available. If your income remains similarly high, then you may need to make estimated payments during 2027 to avoid the underpayment penalty, or increase your withholding.
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Maximize your pre-tax contributions to work retirement plans, and to an HSA if eligible. If your health insurance re-enrollment happens before December 1, you can switch to an HSA-eligible plan to make HSA contributions as though you were enrolled in that plan for the entire year, so long as you remain enrolled in an HSA-eligible plan for all of 2027. (You do have to watch that you don’t have disqualifying coverage, such as an FSA, from your spouse.)
If you give money to charity, keep receipts/end-of-year statements. You can deduct up to $2000 of charitable donations (cash/card/etc., but not *items*) even without itemizing.
If you’re likely to itemize, then also track any items you give to charity. Your itemized charity deduction is subject to a 0.5% AGI floor, though (meaning you subtract 0.5% of your AGI and only get to claim the remainder as an itemized deduction). If you give more than a few hundred dollars worth of stuff, you’ll need to pay attention to the documentation requirements.
Harvest any capital losses that you can this year (if doing so is within your investment strategy).
It does not make sense to start or pivot into a business solely to save taxes, and it doesn’t make a *lot* of sense to buy equipment/etc. that you don’t need (for the etsy store) solely to save taxes. Likewise it doesn’t make sense to give to charity solely to save taxes. Taxes are a percentage of every dollar, so any kind of deduction is still losing money; it’s just a *discount*.
Be aware that you’ll be hit with the 3.8% Net Investment Income Tax on your income past $250k AGI. (It applies to all of that income past $250k, since you have less than $250k of non-investment income.)
Adjust your withholding so that you have paid in 110% of last year’s tax liability (line 24 of your 1040). You can wait until 4/15/27 to pay the remaining tax due, though I recommend estimating how much that will be so that you can prepare and have the money available. If your income remains similarly high, then you may need to make estimated payments during 2027 to avoid the underpayment penalty, or increase your withholding.