每年年底，都有幾百萬美國人可以策略性地通過一些避稅措施使自己在來年四月的報稅季少交點稅。目前，美國國會中的共和黨人正在謀求通過一項503頁的新法案，該法案或許將從根本上改變美國的稅制。雖然該法案尚未結束立法程序，但托它的福，今年的美國又多了幾百萬可以采取策略性避稅的人。

如果該法案獲得通過，新稅率和數不清的其他條款將從1月1日起生效。在2017年的最后兩個星期里，大多數舊稅制規則依然是管用的。所以對于想采取策略性避稅的人來說，留給他們的窗口期已經越來越窄了。（盡管新法案1月1日就會生效，但它直到2019年的報稅季才會真正反映在你的報稅單上。）

至于如何利用新老法律交替的窗口期合法避稅，一些會計師、理財師和稅收專家也給出了自己的建議。不過要記住，以下建議并非適用于每一個人，你得先弄清楚新稅法將對你產生怎樣的影響。大多數美國人短期內要交的稅的確是變少了，但也有一些納稅人2018年可能得繳納更多稅費。北方信托公司（Northern Trust Corp）的稅收策略師蘇珊娜·希爾就提醒道：“沒有一個個人繳納的是平均數。平均數是由一系列綜合的個體組成的。”

如果2018年你的稅額注定要飆升，那么很多這些策略并不適用于你。不過如果你也屬于我們這種“平凡的大多數”，屬于能從新法案中獲得一些初始利益的人，那么如果你行動得夠快的話，還是能獲益不少的。

1.向慈善機構捐錢

在美國，每到年底，稅務專家通常會建議你提高報稅單上的抵扣項目。抵扣項目是指你今年做的一些能夠降低個稅繳納額度的事情。如果你今年的抵扣項目多一些，來年四月份你要繳納的稅額就會少一些。過了一月份，你就得再等一年才能享受到抵扣項目帶來的好處了。

對于今年來說，多向慈善機構捐錢可能是個比往年更有效的策略。如果2018年你的稅率降低了，而且你的稅率是基于今年的收入計算的，那么你的抵扣項目就更有價值了。慈善捐款這個抵扣項目依然被保存在新稅法中，它是你在年底前迅速提高抵扣項目的一個非常有效的方法。

如果根據新法案，你明年的稅率要提高了，那么你趕在今年年底前突擊捐款仍然是個不錯的選擇。包括慈善捐款在內的大多數的抵扣項目只有分項報列才能抵扣，而新法案將大大限制能夠通過分項報列獲益的人口數。首先它將單身者的標準抵扣額從6350美元提高到了12000美元，將已婚夫婦的標準抵扣額從12700美元提高到了24000美元。其次，新法案對其他一些抵扣項目做出了限制——比如州稅和地方稅。因此，一些以前通過分項報列能解決的問題，現在成了很多納稅人面前更難以跨過去的門檻。

有鑒于此，俄克拉荷馬州Exencial財富咨詢公司的理財顧問菲利浦·羅斯建議道，在條件允許的情況下，你可以考慮趕在這個月捐掉以后幾年的慈善捐款。如果你不確定捐給哪家機構，你以可以開一個捐贈者建議基金，先把錢捐到賬戶里，以后再決定具體捐給誰。不過你要趕快行動，畢竟12月份只剩不到兩周了。

2.延遲獲得收入

對于這種時候，另一個傳統建議是延遲獲得收入。當然，那些拿死工資的工人是無法選擇什么時候發薪水的，但是企業主卻經常可以把收入的入賬時間推遲到下一年，這樣他們在四月份的報稅季就可以少交一點稅款了。對于投資者來說，他們可以賣掉一些賠錢的股票，或者把賺錢的股票握到2018年再賣，這樣對資本收益部分就可以少交些稅了。在多數年份，延遲獲取收益只是為了遲些報稅，那些稅錢你終究還是要一分不少的交。但是如果你預計明年你的稅率會下降，那么延遲獲取收入真的會為你省下一些錢。（新稅法對“先進先出”規則的改革也給證券投資者帶來了一些利好。）

3.能交盡量交

正如上文指出的那樣，美國新稅法將限制個人所能抵扣的州稅和地方稅限額，個人能抵扣的財產稅、收入稅、營業稅等項目的抵扣限額加起來將不會超過1萬美元。共和黨控制下的國會也因此遭到了民主黨人的批評，民主黨表示共和黨此舉是“劫富濟貧”，相當于讓高稅收的藍州（即民主黨的票倉）人民掏錢給低稅收的紅州（即共和黨票倉）老百姓發福利。同時理財顧問們也紛紛指導那些受到該條款影響的客戶，讓他們想辦法盡量趕在2017年年底前提高州稅和地方稅的抵扣額，比如在條件允許的情況下盡可能多地預付明年的稅款，然后根據舊法進行抵扣。但是上周五由參眾兩院的共和黨人披露出來的最新拆衷法案顯示，這個漏洞已經明確被堵上了，任何今年預付明年的地方稅都要基于2018年的稅率計算。不過2017年的所有稅款和此前年份的所有遲交稅款仍將按照今年的稅率計算。

4.員工墊付

美國當前稅法規則，員工與工作有關的未報銷支出只要超過了收入的2%就可以抵扣。但根據新稅法，這種分項報列的抵扣項目過了今年就將作廢。所以布洛克稅務公司稅收研究所的執行理事凱茜·皮克林建議道，你可以想想，最近有沒有機會能替公司墊點錢，然后多積攢些發票用來抵扣個稅。可抵扣個稅的未報銷支出包括采購工具和備品、墊付職業稅、置裝費、工會會費、因公出差開支等等。在新稅制下，個體戶和企業主則仍可以抵扣相關開支。

5.搬家

根據新法案，新年過后，與工作相關的搬家費用就無法再抵扣了（除非你在軍隊工作）。當然，2017年只剩下兩周不到，在這么短的時間里移民到國外肯定是有難度的。不過福特漢姆大學的會計學和稅收學教授斯坦利·維利歐提斯建議道：“如果你真要搬家，記得要趕在12月31日前將所有與搬家有關的開銷整理出來。”另外，如果你的目的地恰好是一個低稅率的“紅州”，那你真要感謝圣誕老人賜給你的福氣了。（財富中文網）

譯者:賈政景

At the end of every year, millions of Americans can make strategic moves to shave a few bucks off their April tax bill. Right now, millions more should be able to get into the act, with Congressional Republicans poised to pass a 503-page law that fundamentally restructures the U.S. tax code.

If the bill passes, new tax rates and countless other provisions would go into effect on Jan. 1. Most of the old rules though would still apply in the last two weeks of 2017—and that gives individuals a shrinking window of time to employ strategies that would lower their taxes for next year’s tax season. (While the legislation would take effect in the new year, it won’t be reflected in your tax forms until the 2019 tax season).

So, here are suggestions from accountants, financial planners, and other tax experts on how to make the most of this opportunity. Keep in mind that the best advice depends specifically on how you’re going to be affected by the tax bill. While most Americans would get a tax cut in the short term, some taxpayers could see higher tax bills in 2018. “No individual is average,” Suzanne Shier, a tax strategist at Northern Trust Corp., reminds us. “An average is a composite of multiple individuals.”

If your taxes are set to spike in 2018, many of these strategies won’t work as well. But if you’re part of the majority who will see an initial tax benefit from the law, there could be big benefits for acting soon.

1. Give to Charity

A typical piece of end-of-the-year advice is to increase your potential deductions before Jan. 1. Deductions claimed for things you did this year will lower tax bills due the following April. Wait until January, and you’ll need to cool your heels for more than a year to get the benefit of deductions claimed.

This year, beefing up your charitable giving could be even more effective. If your tax rate is falling in 2018, your deductions are more valuable if claimed against this year’s income. Giving to charity, a tax deduction that’s preserved under the tax bill, is an effective way to boost your 2017 deductions on short notice.

And even if your tax rate is going up next year under the new bill, you may still want to make a bunch of charitable donations in 2017. Most deductions, including the charitable one, can only be claimed if you itemize your tax return. The bill would sharply limit the number of taxpayers who would benefit from itemizing: First it raises the standard deduction from $6,350 to $12,000 for single people, and $12,700 to $24,000 for married couples. Second, it limits other deductions—most famously for state and local taxes—so it’s harder for taxpayers to reach the threshold where itemizing makes sense.

So, you might want to think about making several years of charitable donations this month if you can afford it, said Philip “Rusty” Ross, a financial adviser at Exencial Wealth Advisors based in Oklahoma City. If you’re not sure where to donate, you can open a donor-advised fund and decide later where your money will go. But move fast—there are only two weeks left in December.

2. Defer Income

Another traditional recommendation for this time of year is to defer income. While salaried workers generally can’t choose when they get paid, business owners can often delay registering income until the following year, lowering their April tax bill in the process. Investors can also control their taxable income—and thus lower capital gains tax bills—by selling losing stocks or waiting to sell winning stocks until 2018. In most years, deferring income merely delays the taxes you will have to pay eventually. But, if you expect your tax rate to fall next year, deferring income into 2018 could actually save you money. (There’s also some good news for equity investors when it comes to the FIFO rule.)

3. Pay Your Taxes—If You Can

As we noted, the tax bill would limit how much state and local taxes (or SALT) individuals can deduct, to no more than $10,000 of a combination of property taxes and either income or sales taxes. The move by the Republican-controlled Congress was criticized by Democrats as an effort to make citizens of high-tax blue states pay for benefits to corporations and citizens of low-tax red states. As a result, advisers had been planning to instruct clients targeted by this provision to find ways to maximize their SALT deduction in 2017, by pre-paying next year’s taxes as much as allowed and deducting them under the old rules. But the final compromise bill, unveiled Friday by Republicans in the Senate and House, explicitly closes this loophole. Any 2018 local taxes that are paid this year would need to be counted on next year’s taxes, according to the bill. However, any taxes due for 2017—or any late taxes from previous years—could still be deducted on a tax return due this April.

4. Employee Expenses

Current tax law allows employees to deduct unreimbursed expenses related to their jobs as long as they’re more than 2 percent of income. The tax bill ends these itemized deductions after the end of this year. So, workers should think about whether they can pay —and get the receipts—for as many of these expenses as possible this month, said Kathy Pickering, executive director of the Tax Institute at H&R Block. Examples of unreimbursed expenses for employees might include tools and supplies, occupational taxes, work uniforms, union dues, and expenses for work-related travel. Self-employed people and business owners would still be able to deduct expenses under the new tax bill.

5. Pay For Your Move

Under the proposed law, you’ll no longer be allowed to deduct work-related moving expenses after the new year (unless you’re in the military). Of course it might be difficult to schedule a cross-country move on such short notice, but, “if you did move, make sure you clear up any moving-related expenses by Dec. 31,” said Fordham University accounting and taxation professor Stanley Veliotis. And if your destination happens to be a low-tax red state, maybe thank Santa Claus for your good luck.