What tax moves can I make after year-end but before filing?
A practical owner tax decision
The direct answer
Some contributions, elections, and corrections may remain available after December 31, while many asset and payroll transactions require action during the tax year. Build a calendar by entity, plan type, filing deadline, and extension rather than assuming all tax planning ends at filing.
Work through the facts
A calendar-year S corporation discovers a large profit only after December 31. Separate actions already required to occur in the tax year from contributions or elections that remain available by a specified filing deadline. A projection should show each action's tax year and entity.
Year-end decisions often fail because an advisor assumes the tax year and filing year are interchangeable. Build two columns: transactions completed by December 31 and actions expressly permitted after that date. Confirm when plan adoption, employer funding and tax elections must occur for the entity's actual year. The result becomes an implementation calendar rather than a vague list of write-offs.
A tax return extension extends filing time, not every payment or transaction deadline.
Records to prepare
Bring year-end payroll, plan documents, prior elections, final books, tax extension status and the owner's household tax projection.
Compare the available choices on the same set of facts, including current-year tax, later-year effects and administrative cost. A hypothetical illustration is not a filed client result or a promised tax saving.
Primary reference and next step
Review the official guidance for the relevant tax year. The entity documents, complete return, actual transactions and applicable state rules should be checked before implementation.
Talk Through Your Situation
Every situation turns on its own facts. Schedule a discovery call and we will walk through what applies to you, what it is worth, and what it would take to put it in place.