Business & Technology

2009 is quickly coming to a close, and your window for some 2009 tax savings is closing with it. If you really want to save a few tax dollars, here are some year-end thoughts:

Win with your Losses

Do you have stock gains?

Give appreciated stocks (and other investments) to someone with significant capital losses.

A family member, or other, could give their individual stock or mutual funds or other investments that have appreciated in value. When sold, the new owner will have a gain on that sale, but can now offset that gain with their losses, thus eliminating any capital gains tax.

Taxpayers can give up to $13,000 per year per person tax-free as part of the annual gift-tax exclusion.

(If you have losses, you may be able to use someone else’s gain.)

“Act now before it’s too late! The laws may change!”

Clients seem to memorize these TV and radio ad slogans when they come in to talk about their back taxes.

Here are the facts:

IRS agreements to reduce what you owe, officially called an Offer in Compromise, have a rejection rate of 75%. So your chances are small. Out of 44,000 offers submitted last year, only 11,000 were accepted. So, you see, such offers are not for everyone -- your finances have to match to the IRS settlement guidelines.