There's still time to take these tax-deductible contributions and have them count toward your 2025 tax return

Most tax breaks are dependent on money moves you made the year before. But there are still a few things you can do to lower your 2025 tax bill.

In fact, you can make deposits into two key accounts through April 15, and still have it lower your taxable income for 2025.

“You always want to maximize tax credits — that's the dollar-for-dollar reduction in your tax burden,” Rob Burnette, a tax preparer at Outlook Financial Center, told CNBC. 

Unlike a 401(k), which is managed by your employer, an individual retirement account (or IRA) is a personal savings vehicle you manage yourself.

Putting money into your IRA can lower your taxes in two ways: If you have a traditional IRA, your contributions are tax-deductible, so you can subtract them from your taxable income for 2025 (Contributions to a Roth IRA aren't tax-deductible now but your withdrawals in retirement will be tax-free.) 

Here's the key: The IRS allows you to contribute to an IRA until April 15, 2025, and still get the tax break for 2024.  

With a health savings account (or HSA), workers with qualified high-deductible health plans can contribute tax-deductible funds to be used for eligible medical expenses. The money grows tax-free and any withdrawals for qualified medical expenses are also tax-free — including copays, deductibles, coinsurance and prescriptions.

Some Americans use their HSAs as a retirement tool because, after age 65, you can make withdrawals for any reason — whether for medical needs or not.

The kicker: Any money you deposit in an HSA through April 15, 2025, is tax deductible for 2024.

There's still time to max out your IRA and HSA contributions and have it count for your 2025 return. But Burnette cautions that these breaks are not unlimited reservoirs.

Contribution limits

The maximum IRA contribution limit for tax year 2025 is $7,000. Employees 50 or older can make extra catch-up contributions of up to $1,000, bringing their total to $8,000. 

The maximum HSA contribution in 2025 is $4,300 for single coverage and $8,550 for family plans (including any employer contributions). Workers 55 or older can make an additional $1,000 in catch-up contributions.

“If you're in a high-deductible health plan, maxing out your HSA makes sense for anybody,” said Burnette. It can reduce your taxable income by thousands of dollars and be used for copays, prescriptions, glasses and over-the-counter medical items.

“Put the money in your HSA before you go purchase those things,” he added. “You're going to get a tax benefit for that.”

After 65, you can use HSA funds for non-medical expenses without paying a penalty.

Document your transactions

If you’re making off-year deposits into your IRA and HSA, clearly document your transactions so they’re credited to the right tax year.

“If you're writing a check, just make sure you put in the memo box that it’s a contribution for that tax year,” Burnette said.“Log in to make sure your contribution increased by the amount you said was a 2025 contribution.”

If the bank messes up, he added, “you need to get in touch with customer service and make sure you get that fixed before April 15.”

Don't miss the deadline

While you can wait until April 15, 2026, to file your return, Burnette says it’s different with these deposits because you're dealing with a bank or investment firm, not the IRS. 

“I tell people that the practical deadline is April 1,” Burnette said. "It’s safer to leave room for the transaction to clear and be accounted for. These places are getting a lot of transactions in those last two weeks, so it's important they have time to process your requests.”

Some institutions may not be able to guarantee they can process your deposit by April 15 if it’s made in that rush period after the start of the month.

At CNBC Select, we work with experts who have specialized knowledge and authority based on relevant training and/or experience. For this story, we interviewed Rob Burnette, investment advisor and professional tax preparer at Outlook Financial Center.

At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed financial decisions. Every tax software review is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of tax software products. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics.

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