At tax return time, you must “net” your capital gains and losses for the year. Any net long-term gain is taxed at a maximum 15% rate. Any excess loss can offset up to $3,000 of ordinary income. Strategy: Sell securities at year-end with an eye on taxes.

To determine the value of your business inventory at year-end, you can use either the first in, first out (FIFO) method or the last in, first out (LIFO) method. Strategy: Switch to the LIFO method if the costs of goods are rising or you’ve had a high-income year. The change can result in a larger deduction for the cost of goods sold and a lower taxable income for your company.

You can deduct your expenses related to your vacation home's rental activity to offset the rental income. You may even be able to claim an overall tax loss for the year. But you can’t claim a tax loss if your personal use exceeds the greater of 14 days or 10% of the days the home is rented out. Tax strategy: Take a winter break straddling this year and next year ...

If you receive gifts of Series EE Savings Bonds in a child’s name, stash them away for a rainy day. There’s no tax to pay on the accrued interest in the bonds until your child cashes them in or they mature ... unless you choose otherwise. Strategy: Elect to report the EE Bond interest annually. Here's why ...

Q. My wife works part time as a teacher’s aide in an elementary school. Can she deduct any of her personal expenses for school as a miscellaneous itemized deduction?

If you have a flexible spending account (FSA) at work to pay for health care and/or dependent care expenses, remeber that any amount left over at the end of the year is forfeited, under the “use-it-or-lose-it” rule. Strategy: Squeeze every dollar out of your FSA before the year ends. You might even move up some nonemergency medical visits from 2010 to 2009.

If you have children in college, hiring them straight out of college into the family business could be a big mistake, even if they’re fabulous contributors and even though the economy stinks, says entrepreneur Allen Fishman.

Maybe you’ve acquired separate companies or you split off a subsidiary from your initial operation. In either event, you own two or more business entities on the books. Potential problem: If some of the employees work for more than one of the companies, you could be paying more employment tax than required. Strategy: Assign a “common paymaster” for payroll matters.

Saying that Word 2007 changed from Word 2003 is, well…an understatement. Sure, you’re past the basics of opening files, the frustration with strange default formatting, missing icons and missing functions. All you want is to get back to work. So do we! We’ve designed this webinar to do just that! Here are a few of the best new features on Word 2007:

What will happen to the estate and gift-tax laws in the next few months? At this point, it’s anyone’s guess. So focus on what you know now. Emphasize those estate-planning techniques that would seem to make sense no matter which way the wind blows. For instance, if you’ve started a lifetime gift-giving program, continue it.

The amount you transfer to a Section 529 plan for college savings on behalf of a beneficiary qualifies for the annual gift-tax exclusion. Strategy: Front-load your contributions to a Section 529 plan. The tax law allows you to give the equivalent of five years’ worth of contributions up front with no gift-tax consequences.

Your company may benefit from a special “bonus depreciation” deduction if it acquires business property this year. The bonus depreciation deduction is equal to 50% of the cost of qualified new (not used) assets placed in service in 2009. What’s more, you may be able to combine bonus depreciation with the Section 179 election.

Have you checked out the IRS on YouTube? Now you can tune in to videos that explain some of the key tax breaks included in the new economic stimulus law. Simply go to www.youtube.com/irsvideos to view the current play list.

The alternative minimum tax (AMT) was originally designed to ensure wealthy individuals don’t get off scot-free. But it's now hitting a greater percentage of middle-income taxpayers. Strategy: If you can avoid the AMT by shifting tax preference and adjustment items into next year, do it. But if you can’t escape the AMT this year, accelerate income into 2010 ...

Q. My company may use the salary reduction plan you referred to in the article "Use salary reduction plan to lower tax." Can the plan be based on a percentage of salary?

It’s easy for employees to fall into the trap of going through the motions. Fortunately, there’s a way that employers can break the routine without breaking the bank. Strategy: Establish a program of achievement awards. If you handle things right, the awards are tax-free to employees and fully deductible by your company. What’s more, the program can increase productivity and boost morale.

Have you been setting aside funds in a Section 529 plan for your child’s college education? If your child has entered school, you can withdraw the funds tax-free to pay for qualified expenses. But you may be inclined to keep the account intact for a while longer so you can build up even more savings. Don’t do it.

Did you just get an e-mail purportedly from the IRS? Don’t believe it. Alert: The IRS is reminding taxpayers to be aware of identity theft scams using its name, logo or web site address. The idea is to trick you into disclosing vital personal information.

Q. I sold a real estate property to my son on the installment basis. Is there any tax problem if he resells it at a gain?

Suppose you converted your IRA to a Roth IRA just before the bottom fell out of the stock market. Based on the inflated value of the account on the conversion date, you were staring down the barrel of a tax disaster. But now you see signs of a market rebound. And you’d like to take advantage of the Roth IRA setup for all the same reasons that attracted you to it in the first place. Strategy: Reconvert your IRA.

Deductions for employee travel expenses are allowed if they are related to business activities. Strategy: Accelerate business trips planned for January into December. This enables you to write off the travel expenses in 2009 instead of waiting until 2010.

Is it time to take health care reform into your own hands? Strategy: Investigate the benefits of Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). Although these tax-favored accounts have been slow to catch on with the public, it might make sense for your situation. If it does, sign up for an HSA whether or not health care reform is enacted.

The tax law provides a special jobs credit—called the Work Opportunity Tax Credit—if you hire workers from one of several economically disadvantaged groups. Strategy: Hire qualified workers before year-end. For instance, if you hire a worker in November and pay him or her $2,000 a month, you can claim a credit of $1,600 (40% of $4,000) this year.

If you missed out on the popular cash-for-clunkers program this summer, you can still qualify for big tax benefits for an older vehicle by donating your “clunker” to charity. Instead of trading in your vehicle, simply give it away to a qualified charitable organization. This entitles you to a deduction on your ’09 return.

Q. We may have to pay environmental cleanup costs as a result of an investigation. Can we write off all of the costs on this year’s return?