Why Smart Taxpayers Start Planning in Summer

When it comes to filing your income taxes, millions of people put it off until the very last minute every year. And chances are, many of those people delay filing because they didn’t plan or may not have been prepared once tax season beckoned.

They aren’t alone. A 2025 study found that nearly one-third of U.S. adults admitted to procrastinating when it comes to tax time. Case in point: IPX1031’s sixth annual Tax Procrastinators Report revealed that 31% of Americans admit to procrastinating filing their taxes, and 1 in 4 – some 25% – did not feel ready to file their taxes on Tax Day.

Good Tax Planning is a Process

It doesn’t have to be that way. Waiting until tax season to plan can be a missed opportunity when it comes to getting more strategic with your money. That’s because good tax planning is an ongoing process, where you consider not only the current tax year but also projections for future tax years, says Ashley Rittershaus, CFP, founder of Curious Crow Financial Planning. Ideally, summer is a good time to check in and see where you are when it comes to taxes, because it still gives you enough time to make changes before the end of the year.

“By the time tax season comes, there are very few actions you can take to impact the prior year’s return – primarily things like individual retirement accounts (IRAs), health savings accounts (HSAs), and self-employed retirement contributions,’’ she says. “Most other actions need to happen before the end of the year to impact that year’s taxes.”

Why Early Planning Matters

We spoke with Rittershaus and other financial experts to explain why early tax planning in summer can help you do things such as:

• Optimize deductions
• Avoid surprises like unexpected tax bills
• Take control of your financial future

Tax Planning Considerations

Some important things to review and consider are:

Check Your Withholdings

It’s smart to make sure your tax withholding is on track. (That’s the money taken out of your paycheck by your employer to cover federal and state income taxes where applicable.) If it’s not, you may need to make any changes to your withholding or make estimated quarterly tax payments throughout the year.

Fix Withholdings Early. “If your employer has not been withholding enough federal taxes throughout the year, and you discover that only in December, you may have to pay a huge chunk in estimated taxes to avoid a penalty,” says Alvin Carlos, CFA, CFP, a financial planner and managing partner at District Capital Management in Washington, D.C. “It’s best to fix your withholding earlier in the year or summer at the latest to avoid surprises.”

Tax tip: On the flip side, paying too much means you are giving Uncle Sam an interest-free loan.

Review Your Retirement Contributions

After you review your withholdings, next up is to check on your retirement contributions.

If your employer offers a matching contribution:

• Make sure you’re contributing at least enough to get the match, notes Rittershaus.

• If your goal is to contribute the maximum to your retirement accounts this year, you’ll want to check that you are on track to hit the maximum by late December, she says.

• If you expect to contribute the maximum before the end of the year, confirm if you’ll still get the maximum employer match, or if you need to spread out your contributions throughout the year to maximize the matching contributions (this varies from employer to employer).

Make Sure You’re Not Leaving Money on the Table

For those who work for a business that’s large enough to have a human resources department, it can be a great value when it comes to your finances. This summer:

• Check in with your HR department representative to make sure you are fully taking advantage of your workplace benefits.
• See if contributing to pre-tax accounts such as HSAs or FSAs (healthcare or dependent care) is an option.
• Or even buying pre-tax parking/transit passes. (You never know unless you ask!)

Other Tax-Related Considerations

• Consider how this year’s tax situation fits in with your projected taxes for the future.
• If you’re in an especially low tax year:
• You may want to consider strategies like Roth conversions,
• Or look into Roth retirement contributions, notes Rittershaus.

• If you’re in an especially high tax year:
• You may want to maximize your pre-tax deductions as much as possible.
• Charitably inclined?
• Consider your options to maximize tax savings on charitable contributions, Rittershaus notes:
• Establishing a donor-advised fund (DAF).
• Donating appreciated securities.
• If older than 70 and a half, you can make qualified charitable distributions (QCDs) directly from an IRA.

Do one thing: If you work with a tax preparer or other financial planner, schedule a meeting to check in with them this summer to see what you may be able to do now for a better outcome next April.

Article distributed in partnership with SavvyMoney with reporting by Casandra Andrews and Jean Chatzky