The window between Thanksgiving and December 31 is the most consequential tax planning period of the year. For high earners in Nevada, Texas, Florida, and Arizona, where there is no state income tax, every action on this checklist translates directly to federal savings. Miss the deadlines and wait another year. Take action now and lock in the savings.
Review Your Year-End Tax Plan with SassonThese are the numbers that govern every year-end tax decision for high earners in 2026. Bookmark this page and return to it each fall.
2026 401(k) employee contribution limits, standard and catch-up (age 50+). Deadline: December 31, no carryover to the following year. Check your year-to-date contributions in November and increase your payroll deferral rate if needed.
2026 IRA contribution limits, standard and catch-up (age 50+). Deadline: April 15, 2027 for the 2026 tax year. But Roth conversions must be completed by December 31, no extension available.
2026 HSA contribution limits, individual and family coverage, with $1,000 catch-up at age 55+. Deadline: April 15, 2027 for 2026, but employer payroll contributions must be arranged before December 31 payroll cutoff.
2026 annual gift tax exclusion, per recipient, per year. Gifts must be completed by December 31. Married couples can combine to give $38,000 per recipient. Unused annual exclusion cannot be carried forward.
Work through each item in October and November to allow time for payroll changes, account transfers, and year-end trades to settle before December 31. Many of these require advance notice, do not wait until late December.
401(k) contributions must reach the plan year maximum by December 31, there is no extension. Check your year-to-date contributions in October (your 401(k) statement or paycheck stub shows cumulative contributions). If you are behind, contact your payroll department to increase your deferral percentage for the remaining pay periods. At $23,500, a high earner in the 24% bracket saves $5,640 in federal income taxes annually, pure savings that compound inside the account.
Catch-up contributions (age 50+) allow an additional $7,500 for a total of $31,000 in 2026. SECURE 2.0 introduced a "super catch-up" for ages 60–63: $11,250 additional (total $34,750). If you qualify, confirm your plan allows super catch-up contributions before year-end.
Roth conversions must be completed by December 31, unlike IRA contributions, they cannot be done in the following year for the prior tax year. Project your total taxable income for the year and identify how much room remains in your current federal bracket before crossing into the next tier or an IRMAA threshold.
For Nevada high earners in the 22% bracket: if your projected year-end income is $10,000–$20,000 below the 24% bracket boundary ($201,050 for single filers, $383,900 for MFJ in 2026), converting $10,000–$20,000 of traditional IRA to Roth at 22% today eliminates future RMDs at potentially higher rates. The conversion costs federal income tax only, $0 Nevada state tax.
Tax-loss harvesting is the practice of selling investment positions with unrealized losses before December 31 to generate capital losses that offset realized capital gains. Losses offset gains dollar-for-dollar. If losses exceed gains, up to $3,000 per year can be deducted against ordinary income, with any excess carried forward indefinitely to future years.
Wash-sale rule: You cannot repurchase the same or "substantially identical" security within 30 days before or after the sale without disqualifying the loss. You can immediately purchase a similar-but-not-identical security to maintain your investment exposure (e.g., sell Vanguard Total Market and immediately buy iShares equivalent), you preserve the economic position while capturing the tax loss.
If you are age 73 or older (or inherited an IRA with RMD requirements), your full annual RMD must be withdrawn by December 31. The IRS penalty for a missed or insufficient RMD is 25% of the shortfall amount, substantially reduced from the previous 50% under SECURE 2.0, but still severe. If you have multiple IRAs, calculate the combined RMD across all accounts (you can satisfy the total from any single IRA or combination).
If you are enrolled in a qualifying High-Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) and have not yet maxed your HSA for 2026, you have until April 15, 2027 to complete contributions for the 2026 tax year. However, payroll-deducted contributions are more tax-efficient (they bypass FICA taxes) and require advance coordination with your employer. Review your year-to-date HSA contributions now and arrange any top-up before the last December payroll run if you want the FICA advantage.
For family HDHP coverage in 2026: $8,550 maximum contribution (+$1,000 catch-up at 55+). A high earner in the 32% bracket saves $2,736 in federal income taxes plus $654 in FICA on the full family contribution, $3,390 in combined tax savings on a single year's HSA contribution.
Donor-Advised Fund (DAF): Contributing appreciated securities (stocks, mutual funds held more than one year) to a Donor-Advised Fund by December 31 generates a federal charitable deduction for the full fair market value, without recognizing the capital gains. You can recommend grants to charities from the DAF at any time in the future. This strategy is particularly valuable for Nevada high earners in peak income years who want a large current deduction but are uncertain which charities to support immediately.
Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs) for age 70½+: As noted in item 4, QCDs are the most tax-efficient charitable vehicle for IRA holders: the distribution is excluded from AGI entirely, satisfies the RMD, and avoids IRMAA and SS taxation consequences. More powerful than writing a check and claiming a deduction, because the QCD avoids the income ever appearing on the tax return.
For retirees or early retirees on ACA marketplace health insurance, your premium tax credit (or repayment of excess credits) is based on your annual income relative to the Federal Poverty Level. Income spikes from Roth conversions, asset sales, or other one-time events in the final months of the year can dramatically affect your ACA subsidy, both positively and negatively. Review your projected year-end income against ACA subsidy cliff thresholds before executing any additional income-generating transactions.
For Medicare enrollees: IRMAA is based on income from 2 years prior. A large Roth conversion, asset sale, or business income event in the current year will increase your Medicare premiums in two years. The first IRMAA tier adds $888/year per person. If your current-year income is near an IRMAA boundary, consider whether the conversion or sale can be timed or sized to stay below the threshold. In Nevada, where there is no state income tax return to complicate the analysis, federal MAGI management is the only variable.
High earners who under-withhold during the year may owe IRS underpayment penalties at tax filing. The safe harbor rule: you avoid the underpayment penalty if you either (a) paid 90% of your current year tax liability or (b) paid 100% of your prior year tax liability (110% if prior year AGI exceeded $150,000). Review your year-to-date withholding against your projected full-year tax liability now, if you are materially short, you may need to make a Q4 estimated tax payment (typically due January 15) or request supplemental withholding from an employer by filing an updated W-4.
Solo 401(k) employee contributions must be elected and the plan established by December 31 of the tax year (for new plans). Employee contributions for existing plans are due December 31 for W-2 employees but can follow the business tax filing deadline for owner-employees in some cases, verify your plan document. Employee contribution limit: $23,500 ($31,000 age 50+). Employer profit-sharing: up to 25% of W-2 compensation, combined total maximum $70,000 for 2026.
SEP-IRA contributions can be made up to the business tax filing deadline including extensions (September 15 for S-corps/partnerships, October 15 for sole proprietors). Maximum: 25% of net self-employment earnings up to $70,000 for 2026. Flexible timing makes SEP-IRAs valuable for business owners who need to wait until their final profit picture is clear.
The 2026 annual gift tax exclusion is $19,000 per recipient. Gifts up to this amount can be made to any number of individuals without filing a gift tax return (Form 709) or reducing your lifetime gift and estate tax exemption ($13.61 million per individual in 2026, before potential legislative reduction). Married couples can combine exclusions to give $38,000 per recipient from community assets (or $19,000 each from individual accounts).
Gifts must be completed by December 31, the annual exclusion cannot be carried forward. For Nevada high earners with estates that may approach the lifetime exemption threshold (particularly given potential post-2025 legislative reductions to the exemption), annual gifting is a consistent, low-maintenance estate reduction strategy. Gifting appreciated assets (subject to carryover basis rules) or funding 529 plans (five-year gift election allows five years of exclusions in one year) are common high-value strategies for year-end execution.
Not every year-end tax action has the same deadline. Knowing which items are truly December 31 deadline-driven versus which can extend into the following year prevents last-minute scrambles.
Nevada, Texas, Florida, and Arizona residents share a significant advantage at year-end: there is no state income tax return to file, no state withholding to reconcile, and no state tax consequence to any of the actions on this checklist. Every benefit is 100% federal. Here is what that means in practice:
The takeaway for high earners in Nevada: Federal optimization is pure gain. Every action on this checklist creates 100% federal tax savings with zero state income tax cost or complication. This makes Nevada one of the best environments in the country to execute an aggressive year-end tax planning strategy.
Year-end tax planning is most impactful for households in these situations. The higher the income and the more complex the financial picture, the more this checklist is worth completing with a professional.
At $200,000+ in income, every year-end decision has outsized tax impact. Bracket management, Roth conversion windows, and QBI preservation all interact at higher income levels in ways that require deliberate annual review, not rule-of-thumb assumptions.
Business owners have the most year-end levers available: retirement plan contributions (Solo 401k, SEP-IRA), QBI deduction coordination, Section 179 equipment expensing, vehicle deduction timing, and compensation timing (W-2 vs. distribution) all need to be reviewed and executed before year-end where applicable.
The pre-RMD retirement window is the highest-value period for Roth conversion planning. Before Social Security and RMDs stack income, temporary low-income years create bracket room for converting traditional IRA dollars to Roth at 12%–22% federal rates, permanently reducing future mandatory taxable income.
RMDs create both a year-end compliance deadline and a year-end planning opportunity (QCDs, Roth conversion coordination, income threshold management). Miss the RMD deadline and pay a 25% IRS penalty. Plan around it effectively and potentially reduce your annual tax bill by $2,000–$10,000 through QCDs and bracket filling.
Annual gifting ($19,000 per recipient), superfunding of 529 plans, contributions to Spousal Lifetime Access Trusts (SLATs), and charitable giving strategies all have year-end deadlines. For families concerned about estate tax exposure, particularly given potential reductions to the lifetime exemption after 2025, systematic annual gifting is the most consistent estate reduction tool available.
Recent Nevada relocators who moved from high-tax states face year-end complexity: they may have partial-year residency in both states, generating two state returns for the transition year. After the first full year as a Nevada resident, year-end planning simplifies dramatically, one federal return, no state income tax, maximum federal savings.
"I can fund my Roth IRA for 2026 anytime in early 2027."
RealityRoth IRA contributions have until April 15, 2027 for the 2026 tax year, that part is true. But Roth conversions must be completed by December 31, 2026. If you want to convert traditional IRA funds to Roth for the 2026 tax year, that conversion must clear before December 31, not April 15. Many people confuse contributions (extendable) with conversions (December 31 hard deadline).
"Year-end tax planning only matters if I have a lot of investments to manage."
RealityYear-end planning matters for anyone with a 401(k) to max, an IRA to contribute to, or an RMD to take. Even a W-2 employee without taxable investments benefits from checking their 401(k) contribution level and considering an IRA contribution before April 15. The checklist scales to any income and complexity level, start with the items that apply to your situation.
"My CPA handles all of this, I don't need to do anything."
RealityCPAs file tax returns based on what happened in the prior year, they are historians, not proactive planners in most cases. Year-end tax planning requires action before December 31 to change the tax outcome. A CPA who sees your return in March 2027 cannot retroactively increase your 401(k) contribution, execute a Roth conversion, or harvest a tax loss that settled in January. You need a financial advisor or a proactive CPA who engages before year-end, not after it.
"There's no state income tax in Nevada, so there isn't much to plan around."
RealityNevada's no-state-income-tax environment means all planning is concentrated on federal optimization, which is where the highest-value opportunities exist. Federal brackets, IRMAA thresholds, QBI deductions, gift tax exclusions, and Roth conversion windows are entirely federal concepts that create thousands of dollars in annual savings for those who engage with them proactively. Nevada's tax simplicity is an advantage, not a reason to skip planning.
The most effective year-end tax planning happens in a structured sequence, not as a year-end scramble. Here is how to approach it systematically each fall.
In October, collect: your most recent pay stubs (W-2 income year-to-date), 401(k) contribution summary (year-to-date), any taxable investment account statements showing realized gains/losses, estimated self-employment income if applicable, RMDs taken to date, Social Security received, and any other income sources. Build a simple spreadsheet that shows projected year-end income across all categories. This total is the starting point for every other decision on the checklist.
With your projected year-end income in hand, identify: (a) How far are you from your next federal bracket boundary? (b) How far are you from the first IRMAA tier ($106,000 individual / $212,000 MFJ)? (c) Are there unrealized gains or losses in your taxable accounts that should be acted on? (d) Do you have remaining room in your 401(k) or HSA for the year? (e) Is there Roth conversion room available below your bracket or IRMAA boundary? The answers to these questions determine which checklist items are relevant and in what priority order.
Prioritize the items that cannot be extended: 401(k) contribution adjustments (coordinate with payroll, allow 2–4 weeks), Roth conversions (allow 5–7 business days for processing), tax-loss harvesting trades (allow 2 business days to settle), RMDs (verify complete), QCDs (coordinate with IRA custodian), and annual gifting. These actions must happen before December 31 or the opportunity is permanently lost for the current tax year.
After December 31, complete the items that have extended deadlines: IRA and HSA contributions (before April 15), SEP-IRA contributions (before business filing deadline), and Q4 estimated taxes (January 15). Once April 15 passes and the prior tax year is fully closed, schedule your next October review on your calendar. Consistent annual engagement with this checklist, not sporadic attention, is what separates high earners who build wealth efficiently from those who leave significant tax savings on the table year after year.
Employee 401(k) contributions (traditional and Roth) must be made by December 31 of the tax year, there is no extension. Because contributions are made through payroll deductions, the effective deadline is your last payroll date before December 31. If you need to increase your contribution percentage, notify your payroll department in November to ensure the change takes effect before the final December payroll run.
Employer profit-sharing contributions to 401(k) plans (for business owners) can typically be made up to the business tax filing deadline including extensions, September 15 for partnerships and S-corps, October 15 for sole proprietors. If you are a business owner contributing employer profit-sharing, verify your plan document and consult your plan administrator for the specific deadline applicable to your plan.
The Roth conversion decision depends on the margin of remaining bracket room and your expected future tax rates, not just your current bracket. If you are already in the 32% bracket but have room before the 35% bracket boundary, converting at 32% today makes sense if you expect future RMDs to be taxed at 32% or higher. If you are at the top of your bracket with no room before the next tier, adding a conversion would push you into a higher bracket, potentially not worth it.
Nevada residents benefit from a cleaner calculation: the conversion costs federal income tax only. In states with income taxes, converting at 32% federal + 9% state = 41% effective cost makes the break-even much harder to achieve. In Nevada, a 32% federal cost with no state addition is the entire cost, a more favorable equation for conversions across a broader range of scenarios. Year-end Roth conversions must be executed by December 31 and cannot be applied to the following tax year.
The 2026 annual gift tax exclusion is $19,000 per recipient. You can give $19,000 each to any number of people, children, grandchildren, friends, without filing a gift tax return (Form 709) or reducing your lifetime gift and estate tax exemption. Married couples can each give $19,000 to the same recipient for a combined $38,000 per recipient per year with proper documentation.
Gifts must be completed by December 31, the annual exclusion cannot be carried forward or accumulated. Direct payment of tuition or medical expenses to the institution or provider qualifies for unlimited exclusion (no limit and no gift tax) when paid directly, this is separate from and in addition to the $19,000 annual exclusion. For Nevada households with estate planning goals, systematic annual gifting is one of the most consistent and penalty-free ways to reduce a taxable estate over time.
Tax-loss harvesting is selling investment positions with unrealized losses to generate capital losses that offset realized capital gains, reducing your federal tax bill. In Nevada, the analysis involves only federal capital gains rates (0%, 15%, or 20% for long-term gains; ordinary income rates for short-term). There is no Nevada state capital gains tax to add on top, making the math straightforward.
Capital losses offset capital gains first, then can offset up to $3,000 in ordinary income per year. Excess losses carry forward indefinitely. The wash-sale rule prohibits repurchasing the same or substantially identical security within 30 days of the sale, but you can immediately purchase a similar security to maintain investment exposure. Effective tax-loss harvesting preserves your investment position while capturing a current-year federal tax benefit. Trades must settle by December 31, most trades settle in 1–2 business days, so the effective trading deadline is approximately December 27–28.
A Donor-Advised Fund (DAF) is a charitable giving account sponsored by a public charity (Fidelity Charitable, Vanguard Charitable, Schwab Charitable are common examples). You contribute cash or appreciated securities to the DAF, the contribution is irrevocable and generates an immediate charitable deduction, and then recommend grants from the DAF to qualifying charities over time. You receive the tax deduction in the year of contribution to the DAF, not the year grants are distributed to charities.
The most powerful DAF strategy for Nevada high earners: contribute long-term appreciated securities (stocks, mutual funds held more than a year) rather than cash. The DAF accepts the securities at fair market value, sells them without recognizing capital gains, and you receive a deduction for the full fair market value. This eliminates the capital gains tax you would have owed if you sold and donated cash instead. Contributions to the DAF must be completed by December 31 for the current-year deduction, call the DAF sponsor several weeks early to coordinate security transfers.
Nevada, Texas, Florida, and Arizona residents skip the entire state income tax layer of year-end planning: no state estimated taxes, no state withholding reconciliation, no state bracket management, and no state return to file. Every checklist item above is a federal-only decision, which simplifies the analysis and makes the federal optimization the entire focus of year-end planning. For Roth conversions specifically, the absence of state income tax makes the break-even calculation more favorable than in most other states.
The one area where Nevada residents should be aware of state-specific rules: Nevada's community property laws. For married couples, how assets are titled (community vs. separate property) affects how gifts are structured, how income is attributed for withholding purposes, and how inherited assets are treated for basis. Year-end gifts of appreciated securities or retirement account beneficiary reviews benefit from community property titling awareness, particularly for couples who relocated from a common law state where separate property rules applied.
Work through these steps before December 31 to minimize your tax bill and maximize retirement savings.
Year-end tax planning is time-sensitive, many of the highest-value opportunities on this checklist expire permanently on December 31. Sasson Emambakhsh (NV #4185790 | AZ #22097825) works with Nevada, Texas, Florida, and Arizona high earners each fall to review year-to-date income, identify actionable opportunities, and execute before the deadlines. Schedule your free year-end review consultation now, before the window closes.
Schedule Your Free Year-End Tax Planning Consultation (702) 734-4438