Start with a clear picture
Effective year‑end tax planning begins with understanding your current situation. The IRS emphasizes that taxpayers should organize their records throughout the year and check their tax withholding to ensure they’re neither under‑ nor over‑withholding. Maintaining organized records of income, expenses, and digital assets helps uncover deductions and credits that might otherwise be missed.
Make strategic moves before December 31
Here are actionable year‑end strategies for individuals and business owners, along with how an AI assistant can help:
| Strategy | How AI Assists |
| Optimize retirement and health‑savings contributions | AI tax planning tools can evaluate your current AGI and model the impact of additional contributions to retirement accounts or HSAs, helping you decide how much to contribute to reduce your tax rate. |
| Decide whether to itemize or claim the standard deduction | AI assistants analyze your deductible expenses—such as state taxes, mortgage interest and charitable contributions—and compare them with the standard deduction, suggesting whether bunching deductions makes sense. |
| Leverage charitable giving | If you’re at least 73 and have an IRA, AI research can flag the opportunity to make a qualified charitable distribution (QCD), which counts toward your required minimum distribution and keeps the amount out of your AGI. AI can also help identify donor‑advised funds or charitable remainder trusts as vehicles to maximize the deduction. |
| Harvest capital losses | AI tools can analyze your portfolio to identify positions with unrealized losses and model the tax impact of harvesting losses to offset capital gains, ensuring compliance with the wash‑sale rules. |
| Adjust business income and expenses | For self‑employed individuals and business owners, AI tax research can highlight potential accounting method changes or the timing of revenue and expenses, such as accelerating deductions or deferring income when appropriate under the tax code. |
| Review tax credits | An AI assistant can remind you to check eligibility for credits like the Earned Income Tax Credit or Child Tax Credit and ensure you maintain the records needed to substantiate the credits. |
Hive Tax AI: the AI assistant for CPAs and sophisticated taxpayers
Unlike generic tax software, Hive Tax AI combines AI tax research, AI tax planning and a conversational AI assistant. It pulls from authoritative sources and updates daily to reflect regulatory changes. When faced with complex issues—such as whether a client should pursue a Roth conversion or how the expiration of Tax Cuts and Jobs Act provisions might affect future bracket planning—Hive Tax AI uses predictive analytics to compare scenarios. It can also draft planning memoranda, summarizing the rationale and citing relevant law, enabling CPAs to communicate strategies confidently. For business owners, the platform can highlight opportunities around bonus depreciation, Section 179 expensing and research‑and‑experimentation cost capitalization. By integrating with your accounting system, Hive Tax AI’s AI assistant continuously monitors transactions and flags potential year‑end planning actions.
Closing thoughts
Year‑end tax planning is an annual ritual that pays dividends when done thoughtfully. By using an AI assistant, you can transform an overwhelming list of tasks into a prioritized checklist tailored to your situation. Hive Tax AI stands out as a comprehensive solution for CPAs and proactive individuals because it blends cutting‑edge AI tax research with personalized recommendations. Whether you’re optimizing deductions, managing RMDs through QCDs or simply ensuring your records are in order, AI‑driven insights can help you enter the new year with confidence.