Several tax provisions are scheduled to expire at the end of this year.
Many of these tax breaks have been extended in the past, so it's possible Congress could extend them again over the next few months.
"It could be in very late December, at which point it's too late to do much tax planning, or January when you really can't do anything," cautions Richard Baum, a partner at accounting firm Anchin, Block & Anchin LLP.
The government shutdown could also delay the start of tax-filing season a few weeks as well.
5. IRA distributions to charity. People older than age 70½ are required to take minimum distributions from their individual retirement accounts, so this provision allows them to contribute that money to charity without counting those distributions as income. The provision can keep income low enough for an individual to qualify for other tax breaks that may have phase-out limits.
6. State and local sales tax. If you pay state or local income tax, you can deduct that amount from your federal taxes if you itemize. But if you live in a state like Florida or Texas that doesn't have income tax, you can't take advantage of that deduction. This provision allows you to deduct state sales tax if your state doesn't have sales tax or if the amount you paid in sales tax was higher than income tax. "You can use the IRS estimate based on your income and the state you live in to calculate what would be a normal sales tax deduction, and then you can add to that certain big-ticket items like a boat," says Mark Luscombe, principal analyst for the tax and accounting group at CCH. "In a given year, even if you have an income tax, you might want to check both if you've made some major purchases."
8. Remodeling your home for energy efficiency. Homeowners who remodel for energy-efficiency can take a credit of up to $500 over their lifetime. This provision has existed since 2006, so many taxpayers have already used the credit. "It looks at your prior credits that you've taken so there is a little bit of a look back, and you may not get the full amount," Spritz says. There is a separate $500 credit available for energy-efficient appliances. If you haven't used the credit yet, there are still two months left to install new windows or buy an energy-efficient air conditioner.
Corrected on 11/05/2013: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated a tax credit would be available for energy-efficient washing machines.