Piecing Together Your End-of-Year Tax Plan

Every complex puzzle is best solved together, and year-end tax planning is no exception. This guide outlines what’s on your to-do list (the time-sensitive deadlines and decisions) and what’s on ours (the strategy discussions, detailed analyses, and behind-the-scenes coordination) to help ensure every piece of your plan fits smoothly into place. Together, we can close out the year confident and organized.

Part 1: Your Focus

When the ball drops at midnight on December 31, so do many tax opportunities. That’s why we kick off our year-end planning in early September – giving us time to think strategically about each of our Clients. While we manage as much as we can on your behalf (more on that below in Part 2: Our Focus), a few important deadlines remain outside of our control. Here’s what to keep in mind as the year winds down:

Deadlines

• Tax Return Filing Extension Deadline – October 15
  • If you haven’t filed your 2024 tax return yet, the extension deadline is October 15, 2025. As a reminder, we ask that you please send us a copy of your 2024 return at your earliest convenience using one of these secure methods.

• Property Tax Payment Deadline – Varies in November & December
  • For Virginia residents, most counties have a December 5 deadline for personal property taxes, but you should review your specific county’s website for deadline information.
  • While the first installment of property taxes is due on November 1, 2025 for California residents, the final deadline to pay without penalty is December 10, 2025.
  • For other states, check your local website (or bill received) for deadlines and grace periods.

• Required Minimum Distributions – December 31
  • We help facilitate Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) for all accounts that we are directly connected to and manage on your behalf at Schwab – generally in the first quarter of the year, subject to your situation and circumstances [personal preference/monthly distributions, Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs)].
  • If you are currently subject to RMDs — either because of your age or because of inheritance — on an account outside of Yeske Buie, please remember to work with the custodian to make that distribution by the end of the year. Let us know how we can help!

• 529 Reimbursements – December 31
  • If you have a child, grandchild, or loved one that has qualified education expenses for which you’d like reimbursement from their 529 plan, you must process those reimbursement requests in the same calendar year as the expenses were paid (if you didn’t pay with funds directly from the 529).

• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) – December 31 (potentially)
  • These plans have a “use-it-or-lose-it” feature that requires the funds deposited within the calendar year to be spent within the same plan year. Some plans offer the ability to carry forward a portion of unused funds while others have a “grace period” after the end of the plan year (but plans can’t have both features). Confirm the end of the “plan year” (for some plans it may be 9/30 or 10/31, others may be 12/31 – check your specific plan and benefits website) and be sure to submit claims for expenses incurred prior to that date as soon as possible (or you may lost the funds!). If you’re unsure the details of your specific plan, speak to your employer.

• Charitable Giving – December 31
  • For gifts to be deductible in 2025, charitable donations must be completed by December 31 (note that certain institutions may have deadlines well ahead of 12/31 to ensure the donation is received in good order, on time). Connect with us about the best method for gifting this year whether that be donating directly in cash or appreciated stock shares, or by gifting through a Donor Advised Fund.

That covers your deadlines and decisions – now here’s what we’re focused on to proactively identify opportunities and actions that could benefit you before the year comes to a close.

Part 2: Our Focus

Beyond helping you stay on top of year-end deadlines, our team is deeply engaged in evaluating tax strategies that may add value to your plan. This year, we’ve expanded our comprehensive year-end reviews to include a focus on provisions from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) that will shape 2025 and beyond. Here are a few of the opportunities we’re reviewing:

• Roth Conversions
  • For Clients in early retirement years before RMD age, Roth Conversions can be an appealing way to take advantage of lower income tax rates and get more funds into a Roth IRA, where they grow tax-free forever.
  • This review is part of our annual year-end tax planning process. For some clients, we revisit Roth conversion opportunities each year during lower-income periods; for others experiencing a major income change – such as retirement – we’re evaluating the strategy for the first time.
  • Read more on Roth Conversions and how we analyze them here.

• Charitable Giving
  • Charitable giving takes many forms throughout the year, but we’re confirming that all actions are complete and assessing whether new ones are needed based on an OBBBA provision effective in 2026, which sets a 0.5% AGI “floor” for deductions.
  • Read more about Qualified Charitable Distributions (and here and here), and charitable bunching specifically related to the OBBBA here.

• Tax Loss Harvesting (or gain harvesting!)
  • Tax loss harvesting is the process of selling specific shares of your holdings for a loss to offset other investment income. It can make sense when there’s been a major capital gain in your situation, but it’s only possible when there are meaningful losses to be harvested.
  • In other cases, there could be strategic reasons to actually harvest gains and reset cost basis at a higher level. These situations are specific to you and your tax situation. They’re on our mind throughout the year and when completing our year-end reviews.

Taxes are a big piece of your puzzle — and one we love! Whether preparing for our Annual Update meetings or preparing year-end tax planning, they’re always on our mind. And we always enjoy collaborating with your tax professionals in the finalization of any tax strategies we think could be attractive for you – the next step of our process after informing you of our thoughts is to pull in your tax professional for their expert opinion and final recommendation so we can be sure we’re all on the same page in supporting you.

If you have questions about your tax situation, the recent tax law changes, upcoming end-of-year deadlines, or anything else, remember, we’re good people to think with!^®  We love collaborating with your tax professionals for the annual tax planning puzzle, so don’t hesitate to reach out.