End-of-Year Tax Tips

Taxes: There's no getting around them. There are, however, tax-planning strategies that can help minimize your tax burden as we close out 2025. Here are three year-end tax moves to consider.

Maximize Your Retirement Contributions

Contributing pre-tax dollars is one way to lower your tax bill while growing your net worth. The amount you can contribute and the deadlines to make your contribution depend on the type of account you have.

401(k). If you have a 401(k) plan at work, you can contribute up to $23,500 in 2025 ($31,000 if you're 50 or older, and $34,750 between ages 60-63).1 You have until December 31 to make your contribution and have it reduce your taxable income for 2025.
Traditional IRA. You can contribute up to $7,000 to a traditional IRA ($8,000 if you're 50 or older).2 The deadline to contribute to an IRA is your tax return filing deadline, not including extensions. That means you have until April 15, 2026* to make contributions for the 2025 tax year.

Self-employed people have several options (in addition to a traditional IRA) when it comes to saving for retirement in a tax-advantaged account. Here are some other ways self-employed people may be able to save for retirement while reducing their tax bill.

SEP IRA. Self-employed individuals can contribute up to 20% of net earnings2 (before you make your SEP contribution), up to $70,000, for 2025.1 You have until the due date of your return (including extensions) to make your contribution. That gives you until October 15, 2026, to contribute for 2025, assuming you filed for an extension on your tax return.
SIMPLE IRA. If you're self-employed and have 100 or fewer employees, you can contribute up to $16,500 to your own SIMPLE IRA ($20,000 if age 50 or older, and $21,750 if you are 60, 61, 62, or 63).1 The deadline to contribute is within 30 days of the end of the tax year.
Individual 401(k). If you're a self-employed business owner with no full-time employees, you can contribute a maximum of $70,000 to a solo 401(k) in 2025 ($77,500 if you're 50 to 59 or 64 or older or $81,250 if you're age 60 to 63).3 That maximum contribution consists of up to 100% of your compensation from the company (capped at $23,500 in 2025) as your "employee" contribution, plus up to 25% of gross compensation for the "employer" contribution. The deadline to contribute is the filing deadline of your business tax return, not including extensions.

One way to maximize the tax benefits of giving is to bunch two or more years of charitable contributions into one year.

Bunch Your Charitable Giving

To get a tax break for your charitable giving, your total itemized deductions — including mortgage interest, state and local taxes and charitable contributions — must be greater than the standard deduction available for your filing status. But many taxpayers who historically itemized deductions now find it advantageous to claim the standard deduction instead.

Here's why: For 2025, the standard deductions are $16,100 for single taxpayers and $32,200 for joint filers.4 Plus, the ability to itemize state and local taxes is capped at $40,0005 — and phases out for taxpayers with modified adjusted gross income more than $500,000 for couples or singles, and above $250,000 for married couples filing separately.

One way to maximize the tax benefits of giving is to bunch two or more years of charitable contributions into one year. For example, if you usually donate $7,000 per year to your local food bank, you could donate $21,000 one year, itemize deductions that year and take the standard deduction for the next two years.

Donations must be made by midnight on December 31 in your time zone to deduct on this year's tax return. If mailing your donation, your envelope must be postmarked on or before December 316 for your donation to be deductible in the current year. Please check with the IRS website.7

Make a Qualified Charitable Distribution

Individuals age 73 or older must take annual withdrawals from their tax-advantaged retirement accounts. These withdrawals are known as required minimum distributions (RMD). If you don't need the money to cover living expenses, consider giving it directly to charity — a tax strategy known as a qualified charitable distribution (QCD).

QCDs allow you to exclude your RMD from your taxable income, which can lower your tax burden. They can even potentially lower your Medicare Part B and D premiums, which are calculated based on your income from the prior year.8

The annual QCD limit is $108,000 per account owner,9 and donations must go directly from your IRA to the charity to qualify.

Although the age to start taking RMDs has gradually increased from 70.5 to 73 over the past few years, the threshold for making QCDs remains age 70.5.

Tax planning is an essential part of growing your wealth. A financial advisor can provide additional guidance if you need help deciding whether these strategies are right for you and estimating the potential tax savings. Questions? Please give us a call at 1-888-SYNOVUS (1-888- 796-6887).

*Please check the federal and state filing deadlines in the event April 15 falls on a weekend or is a holiday.

Important disclosure information

This content is general in nature and does not constitute legal, tax, accounting, financial or investment advice. You are encouraged to consult with competent legal, tax, accounting, financial or investment professionals based on your specific circumstances. We do not make any warranties as to accuracy or completeness of this information, do not endorse any third-party companies, products, or services described here, and take no liability for your use of this information.

IRS.gov, “COLA increases for dollar limitations on benefits and contributions," updated August 26, 2025. Accessed December 8, 2025. Back
IRS.gov, "2024 Publication 560," published March 17, 2025. Accessed December 8, 2025. Back
IRS.gov, "2025 Amounts Relating to Retirement Plans and IRAs, as Adjusted for Changes in Cost-of-Living," accessed December 8, 2025. Back
IRS.gov, "IRS releases tax inflation adjustments for tax year 2026, including amendments from the One, Big, Beautiful Bill," published October 9, 2025. Accessed December 8, 2025. Back
Frederick Hernandez, "SALT Deduction Changes in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act," Bipartisan Policy Center, published July 30, 2025. Accessed November 23, 2025. Back
IRS.gov, "Charitable contribution deductions," updated May 30, 2025. Accessed December 4, 2025. Back
IRS.gov, "Deducting charitable contributions at a glance," updated September 10, 2025. Accessed December 8, 2025. Back
SSA.gov, "Premiums: Rules for Higher-Income Beneficiaries," accessed December 3, 2025. Back
Denise Appleby, "IRS Adds New Reporting Code for Charitable IRA Gifts," published November 11, 2025. Accessed December 8, 2025. Back

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