Today's topic: taxes.

Hey, don't click away so fast. Taxes -- for most people -- don't have to be as mystifying as they seem. And year-end tax moves can really save you money come April. Honestly. There are just a few basic things to keep in mind.

Don't get me wrong: tax issues can be very complex for the well-to-do, and for people who own businesses. But for most people - those of us whose tax bills come from ordinary income and a few investments - tax matters play only a small role in most financial decisions. The main concern is to be sure not to pay more -- or less -- than we owe when the day of reckoning comes. For the most part, tax issues influence when you will do things you're going to do anyway, like selling a money-losing investment or billing a customer for a freelance job.

The standard year-end tax moves for ordinary folk assume that your tax bracket will be about the same in the future as it is now. If that's the case, the general idea is to postpone receiving income until next year or later - by putting off billing customers or waiting until the New Year to sell profitable investments, for example. This way, the tax will be owed in 2010 instead of 2009. Money you'll have to use to pay taxes can be left in savings or investments to grow for another year.

At the same time, make sure you take all the tax deductions you can this year. Reducing your tax bill now, rather than next year, allows you to keep more money working in investments and savings. If you run a business on the side and really need a new computer or printer, buy it before the end of the year so you can book the deduction. If you're eligible for a tax deduction on contributions to an IRA, 401(k) or other retirement account, put in as much as you can afford.

So much for the easy part. The hard part is dealing with investments in taxable accounts. You don't want the tax tail to wag the investing dog. So, if a stock, bond or mutual fund has grown in value but you think it's about to fall, you should sell it now even though you could postpone the tax bill by waiting until Jan. 1.

Many investment decisions, however, fall into a gray area - you want to sell but the timing doesn't seem that critical. For this kind of decision, it does pay to know the rules.

Profit-making investments - things you sell for more than you'd paid - are taxed at the short-term capital gains rate if you'd owned them for 12 months or less. This rate is the same as your income-tax rate, which means it ranges from 15 to 35 percent for most investors. Investments held for longer than 12 months are taxed at the long-term capital gains rate, capped at 15 percent.

It boils down to this: If you want to sell a profitable investment, you're better off waiting until you've had it for at least a year, and until the new year starts. That will both reduce and postpone the tax bill.

Money-losing investments follow the same rules, producing deductions at the short- and long-term rates. So you're better off selling a loser before you've had it for a year, and before the calendar year ends. That way you get a bigger deduction, and you get it sooner.

In practice, winners and losers are tallied together to create net long- and short-term gains or losses. If you have a net loss - your losses were bigger than your gains - up to $3,000 of the loss can be used to reduce your ordinary income, cutting your income taxes. Losses that are bigger than that can be "carried forward" and used to offset capital gains or income in future years.

But let me say it again: Don't sell an investment just for tax reasons. A money-losing investment may be worth keeping if you think it will rebound. And even your biggest winner should be sold if you think it's poised to tumble.

The best strategy is to look over everything you own and, regardless of how it has performed in the past, ask, "Would I buy it today, at today's price?" If the answer's "yes," keep it. If not, let it go - and put your money into something more promising.

Jeff Brown is an experienced business journalist and personal finance columnist who has written for The Philadelphia Inquirer, The New York Times, and TheStreet.com. Read his bio to learn more about him.

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