As we enter the last month of the year, taxpayers are once again faced with a mountain of expiring tax provisions. There are 59 different provisions that will expire on December 31, unless Congress sees fit to extend some or all of them. It is a safe bet that some will be extended, (perhaps retroactively), but others will die.

The most likely survivor will be the extension of the social security tax payroll reduction that has been around since January, 2011. Congressional Democrats and Republicans are in favor of this extension. The sticking points are how much of a reduction and how will it be paid for. Stay tuned for that argument.

Here’s a list of a number of individual provisions scheduled to expire the end of this month. Your guess is as good as mine as to what may happen. If given a choice of waiting until next year, hoping an extension will be passed or trying to take advantage of these tax benefits this year, I would choose this year.

Expiring Provisions:

– 2% payroll tax reduction
– Increased AMT exemption
– State and Local sales tax deduction
– Teacher expense deduction
– Mortgage insurance deduction
– Tax-free charitable distributions from IRA’s
– Energy credit for personal residence