First, examine tax events over which you have no control. Then look at those events within your control and make decisions to give you the best tax results. Most people should try to delay income and accelerate deductions. Make your best guess now, while you can still do something about 1996 taxes. Of course, if you are self-employed, you have more opportunities, but even if you have little flexibility about the timing of your employment income, there are some factors within your control.
Many people make charitable gifts during the holiday season.
It may make a big difference to your tax liability if the gift is made in December or in January. Moving these payments into 1996 means that the tax savings are received a full year earlier. These are easy questions, but the answers require careful analysis of your personal situation. Some deductions have floors which must be reached before anything becomes deductible. Time new glasses, filling prescriptions, and routine checkups for when it will help save the most in tax.