With this approach you take the standard deduction in (for example) odd years (2007), and then itemized with ‘doubled up’ deductions in the even years (2008).

For folks whose itemized deductions are close to the standard deduction then this this increases your tax liability in the years where you take the std deduction, but it decreases your tax liability in the alternate years where you itemize with 2x worth of certain deductions.

You have to run the numbers for yourself to see if it works (e.g. if bunching deductions causes you to hit AMT then all bets are off).

Just google “bunching deductions”, there are lots of articles on this, and lots of other ways to take advantage of “bunching”.

#1 & #5 speak to me.
One year, in Dec. I had so much in my flex spending account that I went hunting for ways to spend the funds (New eyeglasses!)

And of course, I love the idea of purging the house. I agree: very cathartic.

Take Care,
Sharon

Apparently, my employer isn’t the only one, as this excerpt from Yahoo! Finance ‘Four Top-Priority Tax Tasks (and What You Can Blow Off… for Now)’ explains:

Can wait: Using up last year’s FSA dollars. If you already have an FSA but haven’t used up all your dollars, don’t rush to buy extra pairs of bifocals just yet. Many plans have extended the allowable time frame to incur expenses by two-and-a-half months — so no more scrambling to spend cash you’ve set aside. (Check with HR to be sure.)

I’ve been doing “self-withholding” for my self-employment income. Basically, I’m segregating that money into a separate high yield savings account and then paying out just enough in quarterly payment to avoid any penalties. If you don’t do this (estimated quarterly payments), you could be in for a nasty surprise at the end of the year.

Have you done this before? If you aren’t paying at least quarterly estimated taxes, you very well may owe a penalty (http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc306.html)

Another site said this amounted to approxmiately 7% which I am sure is more than the interest you have been getting.

Of course, you probably know all this already and have fulfilled estimated taxes or one of the exceptions. If not, I feel sorry for you

In the case of something like a Roth IRA, you don’t actually file any information regading your contribution with your tax return. Thus, while I think that the IRS technically wants the contributions made before you file, you could conceivably contribute for 2007 after you file your taxes, but before April 15th. In reality, your brokerage has no way of knowing whether or not you’ve already filed, so they should be willing to code it as 2007 as long as you do so before April 15th.

Of course, this sets up a scenario in which you could potentially file your taxes, get a refund, and then use that money to fund your Roth before the tax deadline (as long as you get your return filed early enough). I’m not recommending this… Just pointing out that it might work.

That’s the case with my 403(b) and 457(b) plans — I don’t have a 401(k), but these fill the same role.