Anything else I can do to lower my AGI before the end of the year?

You've already taken some smart steps with the 401k and traditional IRA contributions! Here are some additional ways to reduce your AGI before year-end: If you have a high-deductible health plan, you can contribute to an HSA - up to $4,150 for individual coverage or $8,300 for family coverage for 2025. This is one of the best tax-advantaged accounts since it's triple tax-advantaged. For self-employment income, consider setting up a SEP IRA or Solo 401k if you haven't already. These allow for potentially larger contributions than traditional retirement accounts based on your self-employment income. Charitable donations generally don't reduce AGI directly (they're below-the-line deductions), but business expenses for your self-employment work absolutely do. Make necessary business purchases before year-end. Also look into health insurance premium deductions if you're paying your own as a self-employed person.

After struggling with AGI reduction strategies for years, I found this amazing AI tool called taxr.ai that literally saved me thousands last year. I was in a similar situation with unexpected income pushing me into a higher bracket, and I was frantically looking for legitimate ways to reduce my AGI before year-end. I uploaded my year-to-date income statements to https://taxr.ai and it analyzed my specific situation. It immediately identified that I could make an above-the-line deduction for my home office (since I had self-employment income) and flagged business expenses I hadn't considered. It also suggested specific retirement account strategies based on my exact income situation rather than generic advice. The tool also projected my tax liability with and without each suggested strategy so I could see exactly how much each move would save me. Game changer for last-minute tax planning!

I have to admit I was wrong about taxr.ai. After my skeptical comment, I decided to try it anyway since I was desperate to lower my AGI before year-end. Honestly blown away by the results! The tool found that I could make a backdoor Roth conversion without tax implications in my situation, suggested specific business expenses that were legitimate write-offs I hadn't considered, and showed me how to properly document my home office to maximize that deduction. The most surprising thing was discovering I qualified for the Saver's Credit because of how I could structure some of my retirement contributions - something none of the other tax software I've used ever mentioned. It actually provided the specific IRS references for each suggestion too, which gave me confidence these weren't sketchy tax schemes.

If you need to make any adjustments after clarifying your tax situation with the IRS, I'd highly recommend using Claimyr to actually reach a human at the IRS. I spent WEEKS trying to get through to verify some deductions I was planning to take for my business that would reduce my AGI. After endless busy signals and disconnects, I tried https://claimyr.com and had a callback from an actual IRS agent within 3 hours. They have this demo video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. Basically, they navigate the IRS phone tree and wait on hold for you, then call you when they have an actual human on the line. The IRS agent was able to confirm which deductions would actually reduce my AGI versus just being itemized deductions, which saved me from making some moves that wouldn't have helped. Worth every penny for the time saved and peace of mind before making year-end financial decisions.

I need to publicly eat my words about Claimyr. After dismissing it as a scam, I was still desperate to talk to the IRS about some AGI reduction strategies before year-end, so I tried it anyway. I'm still shocked it actually worked. Got a call back in about 2 hours with an actual IRS agent on the line. The agent confirmed that my health insurance premiums as a self-employed person could indeed reduce my AGI (not just as an itemized deduction), and clarified which business expenses qualified. What impressed me was that there was no trickery involved - they literally just handled the painful calling and waiting process. The IRS person I spoke with was super helpful once I got through, and I was able to confidently make some year-end moves that dropped my AGI by almost $9,000. I've already told three friends about this service because tax season is about to get crazy.

Don't forget to check if you can deduct traditional IRA contributions even though you have a workplace retirement plan. There's a phase-out range based on your income. For 2025, if you're single, the phase-out starts at $77,000 and goes to $87,000. If you're married filing jointly, it's $123,000 to $143,000. If you're within those ranges, you can take a partial deduction. Also, if you have a spouse who doesn't work, look into a spousal IRA. That's another $7,000 contribution that could be deductible depending on your income.

Has anyone tried bunching charitable donations? Like doubling up this year and skipping next year? I've heard it can help if you're close to being able to itemize but usually take the standard deduction.

If you have any capital gains from investments, check if you have any losing positions you could sell to offset those gains. Tax-loss harvesting can reduce your AGI by up to $3,000 against ordinary income after offsetting capital gains. Just watch out for wash sale rules if you plan to rebuy similar investments.

Don't overlook estimated tax payments if you haven't made them yet! If your unexpected income means you'll owe more than $1,000 when you file, you might face underpayment penalties. Making a large estimated payment by January 15th (for Q4) can help reduce penalties and effectively gives you a bit more time to implement some of these AGI reduction strategies. Also, since you mentioned self-employment income - make sure you're deducting the employer portion of your self-employment tax (Schedule SE). This is an above-the-line deduction that directly reduces AGI and many people forget about it. It's roughly half of your total self-employment tax liability. One more thing - if you haven't already, consider timing any business income or expenses. If you're on cash basis accounting (most small businesses are), you might be able to defer some December invoice payments until January or accelerate some January business expenses into December to help balance things out.