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One warning: Don’t repurchase the stock or mutual fund until 30 days have passed. Otherwise, the IRS will declare your loss a “wash sale” and disallow any tax benefit. You can use the

proceeds from your sale to buy other securities: If you sell your stake in an S&P 500 Index fund, for example, you can buy shares of a small-cap index fund, or Intel, for that matter.

Similarly, if you have capital gains, you can sell on Jan. 3 (the first trading day of 2023) and put off paying your taxes on that gain until 2024. Long-term capital gains, levied on the

gains from securities held for more than a year, are taxed at a maximum 20 percent. Short-term gains are taxed at your maximum tax bracket​ One other reason to postpone realizing gains,

losses or income this year: Tax brackets and the standard deduction are adjusted for inflation, and the 2023 adjustment is one of the largest in recent memory. Income postponed till next

year could fall into nontaxable status, Luscombe says, thanks to the higher standard deduction. Similarly, income realized next year could be in a lower tax bracket. CHARITABLE GIVING You

can do great good during the year by giving to charity. In some cases, you can get good back by deducting your charitable donations from your income. In any case, you must have made your

donation by Dec. 31, 2022. To get deductions for charity, you must have more deductions (of all types) greater than the standard deduction. That’s a steep hill to climb: Only about 10

percent of taxpayers are able to itemize their deduction, Luscombe says. The standard deduction for the 2022 tax year is $12,950 for single taxpayers, $25,900 for couples filing jointly and

$19,400 for those filing as head of household. Qualifying widows and widowers get the same standard deduction as couples filing jointly.  Each joint filer 65 and over can increase the

standard deduction by $1,400 apiece, for a total of $2,800 if both joint filers are 65-plus. Single filers age 65 and older who are not a surviving spouse can increase the standard

deduction by $1,750. Bear in mind that charitable contributions don’t have to be in cash. You can deduct the value of clothing, cars or other goods that you donate to charity. You can also

deduct appreciated securities, such as stocks. (If you do so, you’ll get to deduct the value of the stock you sold and bypass capital gains taxes as well.) You might be able to take

advantage of bundling your charitable deductions. Instead of making one donation on Dec. 31, 2022, for example, you could save your 2022 donation and add it to your 2023 donation. Be aware,

however, that the standard deduction is tied to inflation, and the 2023 standard deduction will be larger than the 2022 standard deduction. Unfortunately, the $600 tax exemption for couples

that you may have used in 2021 has gone to that Great Tax Break in The Sky. It’s not available in 2022.