Cutting expenses to the bone? Don’t forget about ways to save on your taxes

Mid-year is the best time to start planning a year-end tax strategy. Accountants and other tax preparers aren’t as busy as they are in spring and winter. If you’re a do-it-yourself tax planner and filer, it’s still a good time. You’ll have five months to make the financial moves that will save you money.

And it’s not just about income taxes: This year, there are sales and property tax moves that can put more cash in your pocket.

Here’s a grab bag of summer maneuvers you can use now:

◼Appeal your property taxes. Home prices have fallen sharply. But it’s unlikely your local or state government has been dropping your home’s assessment by the same percentage. Most states have relatively easy procedures to appeal your assessment or tax bill. There’s no reason not to do it.

◼Feed the retirement fund. If your employer matches part of your 401(k) contribution, make sure you are depositing enough to take full advantage of that. If you’re maxing out at work, start putting extra cash into a Roth retirement account or a traditional Individual Retirement Account. You can deposit as much as $5,000 this year, with an additional $1,000 if you’re at least 50 years old.

◼Sell some investments - winners and losers. Stock market volatility means you may almost always have some losing investments. Harvest losses as soon as you’ve held an investment for a year; that long-term loss can offset long-term gains in your portfolio. You can also use as much as $3,000 of that loss to offset ordinary income, and carry forward unused losses into other years.

There may be some reason to sell gainers, too. If you’re in the 10 or 15 percent tax bracket, your tax rate on long-term capital gains is zero for 2009. It is supposed to be zero for 2010, too, but with Congress looking everywhere to make up for the ever-exploding deficit, that low rate may not stick around. If your tax rate is too high to take advantage of this, but you help relatives who have low tax rates, you can give them the securities, and they can sell them and take the loss.

◼Grab a car deal. The government has at least three tax incentives to encourage car buying. Buy a new car before the end of the year, and you can deduct the sales taxes on it. You’ll be able to take that deduction even if you don’t itemize deductions.

The second car deal is the cash for clunkers program. If you’ve got an old minivan or truck that’s a gas hog, you can get as much as $4,500 on your trade-in for a fuel-efficient car (www.cars.gov for details).

Finally, the government is still handing out money to folks who buy certain hybrids or electric cars.

Linda Stern is a freelance writer.