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Year-End Tax Planning Checklist
NEW YORK, Nov. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- We may have a new President-Elect, but taxpayers have only six weeks to make certain moves that will help ensure tax savings when they file in April 2009. According to Bob Trinz, Senior Tax Analyst for the Tax & Accounting business of Thomson Reuters, "Factors that challenge year-end planning include the stock market's swoon, the economic climate, and the strong possibility of tax changes next year. "The good news is that Congress has acted to 'patch' the AMT problem for 2008, has retroactively reinstated a number of tax breaks (such as the option to deduct state and local general sales tax instead of state and local income tax and the above-the-line deduction for higher education expenses), and has created new tax breaks that go into effect for the 2008 tax year (including a tax credit for first-time homebuyers, a nonitemizers' deduction for state and local property tax and a nonitemizers' deduction for certain disaster losses)," says Trinz.

Act Now to Win on 2008 Tax Breaks
The end of the year is just around the corner, and it's time to look back, look ahead and do your best to beat Uncle Sam at the tax game. Also, if you are a first-time home buyer (haven't owned a home for at least three years), you'll get a new credit if you purchased your home after April 8, 2008. (The credit applies into next year, too, for a home purchased before July 1, 2009.)