MarketWatch Top Ten Tax Tips

MarketWatch cites Tax Mama, Twelve Blogs of Christmas nominee, who encourages readers with the following ten ideas for controlling taxes: [1] If 60+, start withdrawing from IRA accounts while tax cost is lowest, [2] fully use any flexible health savings account balances, [3] consider whether you have made excess contributions to a retirement plan, [4] review your risk for AMT with your tax professional, [5] avoid buying new mutual funds, which often pay a whole year of dividends in December, [6] consider gifting stocks with large gains to relatives with capital loss carryovers, [7] start a tax file for the family--in some cases, for each family member, [8] find key receipts from the past year, [9] check your withholding status and [10] check your benefits status, especially during open enrollment seasons.

Not all of the above ideas will apply to all readers, but some will apply to most readers and all are reasonable where applicable.