The end of one tax year begins another

Don’t lose that post-April 15 “glow.”

Okay, maybe “glow” is too charitable of a term. The bleary-eyed days around Tax Day are perhaps the only times during the year that the typical American taxpayer thinks (or, frankly, actively cares) about things like a withholding rate, adjusted gross income or whether the couch somehow counts as a deduction. “By April 16, lethargy sets in,” says Beth Kobliner, author of Get a Financial Life: Personal Finances in Your Twenties and Thirties. “People are so glad it’s over, and don’t want to think about taxes until next year.”

But that might not be the best strategy. After all, this isn’t just the end of one tax year, it’s also the beginning of (and, technically, well into) another. While all the figures and lingo are fresh on your mind, make the most of them by checking out the newest tax laws and timely perks. They could mean the difference between owing money and getting a fat refund next year. Here are eight easy ways to get a profitable head start on your 2009 return:

• Don’t get over those losses from last year. Sure, psychologically, you should let go of those hits you took in your stock portfolio in 2008. But if you indeed realized capital losses by selling shares, you can carry over the leftover losses to 2009 and beyond. “If you lost $21,000 last year, you can claim $3,000 a year over the course of seven years,” says Mickey Reedy, a member of the National Association of Enrolled Agents. “If a few years from now you suddenly have a $10,000 capital gain, you can use those old losses to help offset it.”

• Make sure you’re paying enough taxes. The making Work Pay Tax Credit, part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, has probably added a few dollars to your paycheck. But it may have also tweaked your withholding rate in a way that will make you owe money this time next year. “The tables used don’t know your whole situation,” says Barbara Weltman, an attorney and contributing editor to the J.K. Lasser tax guides, “so both spouses in a household may be getting too much of a credit on their paychecks, and end up having to pay it back.” You can figure this out by punching in some figures on the IRS’s Withholding Calculator (http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=96196,00.html). “This is an easy one — you don’t even have to talk to anybody,” says Kobliner. “If you need to change anything, you can print out a new W4 from the IRS site and take it your HR person. ”

• Keep an eye on your AGI. If your income hovers around $75,000 as a single filer, or $150,000 as a married couple, you teeter on the brink of scoring (or losing) several tax credits and deductions that have income caps at those levels. Before you stash away that 2008 return, look at the AGI, which is your gross salary minus deductions. “People get confused about AGI,” says Kobliner. “Don’t assume you‘re not eligible before you figure it out.” If you’re still close to the line, then you can do a few things to keep you under that threshold — such as increasing your contributions to a 401(k), a health savings account or a deductible individual retirement account (IRA).

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