# End of year tax planning checklist: what to do before December 31

[Home](/) / [Tax document checklists](/checklists/tax-documents) / Year-end tax planning

By [Arthur Teboul](/authors/arthur-teboul), Founder, DokuTrak. Published 2026-11-04, updated 2026-11-04.

> **In brief:** An end of year tax planning checklist lists what must happen before the year closes, such as payroll deferrals, required distributions and loss sales, and what can wait for the April deadline. Each step should name who does it and the document that proves it was done.

## The checklist: December 31 action list for the 2026 tax year

**Not advice.** This page is general information, not tax, legal or HR advice. Rules change: check the cited source and ask your own professional before you rely on it. Last reviewed October 25, 2026.

Work down the list in November and December. Each line names who acts and the record that closes it; file the records with next year’s tax documents.

### Projection (November)

- [ ] Year-to-date pay stubs for each job: Client: latest stub with year-to-date totals
- [ ] Year-to-date profit and loss for any business: Client: through October or November
- [ ] Last year’s return for the projection: Preparer: 2025 return with all schedules
- [ ] Withholding Estimator result and new Form W-4 if needed: Client and preparer: before the last payrolls

### By December 31

- [ ] Final pay stub showing 401(k), 403(b) or 457 deferrals: Client: confirms the 2026 total
- [ ] RMD confirmation from each custodian: Client: amount and date taken
- [ ] Roth conversion confirmation: Client: only if a conversion was made this year
- [ ] Realized gain and loss report from each broker: Client: early December, before loss sales
- [ ] Charity acknowledgments for 2026 gifts: Client: written letters, with dates and amounts; itemizers compare the total with 0.5% of AGI
- [ ] Qualified charitable distribution confirmation from the IRA custodian: Client: only if one was paid to a charity

### Business owners

- [ ] Invoices and delivery records for equipment bought in 2026: Client: date placed in service on each
- [ ] Forms W-9 from every contractor paid in 2026: Client: before the January filing rush
- [ ] Vendor payment report for the year: Client: shows who crossed the reporting threshold
- [ ] Final payroll register, owner salary included: Client or payroll provider

### Can wait until the April deadline

- [ ] IRA contribution confirmation coded to 2026: Client: ask the custodian to mark the tax year
- [ ] HSA contribution confirmation coded to 2026: Client: same, for the HSA
- [ ] Fourth-quarter estimated payment confirmation: Client: due January 15, 2027

Download: [PDF](https://dokutrak.com/downloads/pseo-v2/f1-tax-document-checklists/year-end-tax-planning.pdf) · [Word](https://dokutrak.com/downloads/pseo-v2/f1-tax-document-checklists/year-end-tax-planning.docx) · [Excel tracker](https://dokutrak.com/downloads/pseo-v2/f1-tax-document-checklists/year-end-tax-planning.xlsx)

## What has a December 31 deadline, and what can wait

Year-end planning is mostly about dates. Some moves count only if they happen in the calendar year. Others count for the year until the April filing deadline. Mixing the two up is how clients miss a step they meant to take.

Sort each idea into one of the two columns first, for example a Roth conversion (this year) or an IRA deposit (until April). The table below covers the moves most clients ask about for 2026, with the record that proves each one.

| Move | Deadline for the 2026 tax year | Proof to keep |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Workplace plan deferrals, such as a 401(k) ([IRS retirement plan limits (COLA)](https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/cola-increases-for-dollar-limitations-on-benefits-and-contributions)) | Final 2026 paycheck | Last pay stub of the year |
| Required minimum distribution after the first year | December 31 ([IRS RMD FAQs](https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/retirement-plan-and-ira-required-minimum-distributions-faqs)) | Custodian confirmation |
| Selling investments at a loss | Trade date in the calendar year | Broker realized gain and loss report |
| Charitable gifts | Paid or mailed within the calendar year | Written acknowledgment from the charity |
| IRA contribution | Filing deadline in April ([IRS retirement plan limits (COLA)](https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/cola-increases-for-dollar-limitations-on-benefits-and-contributions)) | Custodian confirmation coded to 2026 |
| Fourth-quarter estimated tax | January 15, 2027 ([IRS Publication 505](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p505)) | IRS Direct Pay or EFTPS confirmation |

## Withholding and estimated tax: check the gap now

Start with a projection built from last year’s return and this year’s pay stubs. The November question is whether the client already sits inside a safe harbor. Here a **safe harbor** is the payment level that keeps the underpayment penalty away even with a balance due in April. For 2026 that means withholding and estimates covering 90% of this year’s tax, or the full 2025 tax, stepped up to 110% when 2025 AGI topped $150,000 ([IRS Publication 505](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p505)). The [self-employed checklist](/checklists/tax-documents/self-employed) has the quarterly calendar.

Wages give you a late lever. Withholding from the last paychecks of the year counts toward the whole year, so a new Form W-4 in November can close a gap. The IRS Tax Withholding Estimator helps you check it ([IRS Tax Withholding Estimator](https://www.irs.gov/individuals/tax-withholding-estimator)).

Estimated payers have one more date. The fourth payment for 2026 is due January 15, 2027 ([IRS Publication 505](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p505)). If you file and pay in full by January 31, 2027, you do not need to make that payment ([IRS Publication 505](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p505)).

## Retirement and health accounts

For 2026, elective deferrals to a 401(k), 403(b) or 457 plan are capped at $24,500, with a catch-up of $8,000 from age 50 ([IRS retirement plan limits (COLA)](https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/cola-increases-for-dollar-limitations-on-benefits-and-contributions)). Employees who turn 60 to 63 in 2026 get a higher catch-up of $11,250 ([IRS retirement plan limits (COLA)](https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/cola-increases-for-dollar-limitations-on-benefits-and-contributions)). Deferrals come only through payroll, so they must happen by the last paycheck.

The IRA limit for 2026 is $7,500, plus a $1,100 catch-up from age 50 ([IRS retirement plan limits (COLA)](https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/cola-increases-for-dollar-limitations-on-benefits-and-contributions)). That contribution can wait until April. A Roth conversion cannot: it counts in the year it is done.

A **required minimum distribution** is the amount you must take each year from an IRA or plan once you reach the required age. The first one can wait until April 1 of the following year, but every later one is due by December 31 ([IRS RMD FAQs](https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/retirement-plan-and-ira-required-minimum-distributions-faqs)). Waiting on the first one means two distributions in one tax year.

## Charitable gifts and investment sales

Giving changed for 2026. Beginning that year, people who do not itemize may deduct up to $1,000 of cash gifts to eligible charities, or $2,000 for married couples filing jointly ([IRS, Working Families Tax Cuts provisions](https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/one-big-beautiful-bill-provisions)). Gifts to donor-advised funds do not qualify for that deduction ([IRS, Working Families Tax Cuts provisions](https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/one-big-beautiful-bill-provisions)). So a non-itemizer giving through a fund should know the gift will not reduce their tax.

Itemizers face the opposite change. From 2026, their charitable gifts count only to the extent they exceed 0.5% of the contribution base, which is AGI figured without an NOL carryback ([26 U.S.C. 170](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/170)). For example, a donor with $200,000 of AGI loses the first $1,000 of gifts for 2026 ([26 U.S.C. 170](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/170)), so check whether grouping two years of gifts into one clears the floor.

Loss sales have a trap. A **wash sale** is a sale at a loss where you buy substantially identical stock within 30 days before or after the sale, and the loss is not deductible ([IRS Publication 550](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p550)). Ask the broker for the realized gain and loss report in early December, not after the year closes.

## Business owners: December steps

A business owner has its own list. Equipment only counts for the year if it is bought and placed in service before the year ends, so keep the invoice and the delivery or installation record. For 2026 the section 179 expensing limit is $2,560,000, reduced once purchases pass $4,090,000 ([Rev. Proc. 2025-32](https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-25-32.pdf)). A cash-method business can also time invoices and payments around the year end.

Contractor paperwork is due early in January, so collect it now. The Forms 1099-NEC you file in January 2027 cover 2026 payments, where the line is $2,000 ([Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC instructions](https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1099mec)), not the $600 that applied to 2025 payments ([2025 Instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC](https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/i1099mec--2025.pdf)). Ask every contractor you paid for a [Form W-9](/documents/w-9) before the year closes; the [contractor records checklist](/checklists/tax-documents/independent-contractors) shows the rest of the file.

Credits that ended matter too. The home energy credits are not allowed for property placed in service, or expenses made, after December 31, 2025 ([IRS, Working Families Tax Cuts provisions](https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/one-big-beautiful-bill-provisions)). Do not plan a December purchase around them.

1. In November, pull year-to-date pay stubs and a profit and loss statement.
2. Run the projection and adjust withholding or estimates.
3. Confirm deferrals, RMDs, conversions and gifts are booked before the year closes.
4. Review realized gains and losses, and avoid repurchases inside the wash sale window.
5. Collect Forms W-9 and plan the January information returns.
6. Send the January document request so the return can start on time.

## Questions people ask

### How much can I put into a 401(k) and an IRA for 2026?

For 2026, you can defer up to $24,500 in a 401(k), 403(b) or 457 plan, plus $8,000 from age 50 or $11,250 at ages 60 to 63 ([IRS retirement plan limits (COLA)](https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/cola-increases-for-dollar-limitations-on-benefits-and-contributions)). The IRA limit is $7,500, plus $1,100 from age 50 ([IRS retirement plan limits (COLA)](https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/cola-increases-for-dollar-limitations-on-benefits-and-contributions)).

### When is my required minimum distribution due?

By December 31 each year, except the first one, which can wait until April 1 of the following year ([IRS RMD FAQs](https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/retirement-plan-and-ira-required-minimum-distributions-faqs)).

### Can I deduct charitable gifts in 2026 if I do not itemize?

Yes, from tax year 2026 you may deduct up to $1,000 of cash gifts to eligible charities, or $2,000 if married filing jointly ([IRS, Working Families Tax Cuts provisions](https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/one-big-beautiful-bill-provisions)). Gifts to donor-advised funds do not count.

### Is selling investments at a loss before year-end worth it?

It can offset gains, but the loss is disallowed if you buy substantially identical stock within 30 days before or after the sale ([IRS Publication 550](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p550)).

## Sources

- [IRS retirement plan limits (COLA)](https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/cola-increases-for-dollar-limitations-on-benefits-and-contributions): 2026 limits: elective deferrals $24,500, catch-up $8,000 ($11,250 at ages 60 to 63), IRA $7,500 plus $1,100 catch-up.
- [IRS Publication 505](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p505): Safe harbor at 90% of current-year tax or 100% (110% above $150,000 AGI) of prior-year tax; fourth 2026 payment due Jan. 15, 2027, unless filed and paid by Jan. 31.
- [IRS Tax Withholding Estimator](https://www.irs.gov/individuals/tax-withholding-estimator): The IRS tool to check whether withholding is on track.
- [IRS RMD FAQs](https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/retirement-plan-and-ira-required-minimum-distributions-faqs): The first RMD can be delayed to April 1 of the following year; later RMDs are due by December 31.
- [IRS, Working Families Tax Cuts provisions](https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/one-big-beautiful-bill-provisions): From 2026, non-itemizers may deduct up to $1,000 ($2,000 joint) of cash gifts, not to donor-advised funds; 25C and 25D home energy credits end after 2025.
- [26 U.S.C. 170](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/170): For taxable years beginning after December 31, 2025, an individual’s charitable deduction is allowed only above 0.5 percent of the contribution base (section 170(b)(1)(I)).
- [Rev. Proc. 2025-32](https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-25-32.pdf): For tax years beginning in 2026, the section 179 limit is $2,560,000, reduced once qualifying property placed in service passes $4,090,000.
- [IRS Publication 550](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p550): A wash sale is a loss sale with a purchase of substantially identical securities within 30 days before or after; the loss is not deductible.
- [Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC instructions](https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1099mec): For tax years beginning after 2025, the reporting threshold for certain payments rose to $2,000.
- [2025 Instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC](https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/i1099mec--2025.pdf): For payments made in 2025, Form 1099-NEC reports nonemployee compensation of $600 or more.

## More on this topic

- [Tax document checklist (all clients)](/blog/tax-document-checklist)
- [Client tax organizer](/tools/document-checklist/tax-organizer)
- [Investment statement](/documents/investment-statement)
- [Tax Planning Engagement Letter Template (Circular 230)](/templates/engagement-letters/tax-planning)

## About the author

Arthur Teboul (Founder, DokuTrak) is building DokuTrak after watching professionals lose hours chasing clients for documents over email. [Arthur Teboul](/authors/arthur-teboul).

How this page was made (methodology): it is built from the primary sources listed under Sources, and every rule and figure on it links to the source it comes from. Last updated October 25, 2026. Spotted an error or a rule that changed? [Contact us](/contact).

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