With the holidays season growing nigh, taxes are probably the last thing on your mind, or close to the last. But what if you knew that some simple tax planning may save you more than just a few bucks at tax time?

Of course there is a wide variety of tactics to choose from to make sure you pay the right amount of taxes for 2015, so long as you choose the most suitable ones for your specific financial situation.

One of the important factors to consider is whether you’re going to be in a higher tax bracket the following year or not, so you can, as much as possible, shift income to the lower tax rate year, and deductions to the higher tax rate year. With this in mind, here are a few suggestions on how you can apply this tactic with your income and deductions.

If you are an employee and there is an year-end bonus coming your way, see if you can postpone it for January instead of December. If you are self-employed, try delaying billing until late December to make sure you will not receive payment until January, while making tax deductible expenses like spending on equipment and supplies before year end.

Check if you can itemize deductions for 2015 rather than claim the standard tax deduction. But, of course, unless the total of your qualifying expenses exceeds $6,300 if you are single, or $12,600 if you're married filing a joint return, itemizing would be a mistake.

Many itemized deductions are well known, such as those for mortgage interest and charitable donations. However, taxpayers sometimes overlook miscellaneous expenses, which are deductible if the combined amount adds up to more than two percent of your adjusted gross income. These deductions include tax-preparation fees, job-hunting expenses, business car expenses and professional dues.

Do not forget you can deduct the portion of medical expenses that exceed 10% percent of your AGI. There is a temporary exemption from Jan. 1, 2013 to Dec. 31, 2016 for individuals age 65 and older and their spouses. If you or your spouse are 65 years or older or turned 65 during the tax year you are allowed to deduct unreimbursed medical care expenses that exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income.

There is also the home office deduction. The eligibility rules for claiming a home office deduction have been loosened to allow more filers to claim this break. People who have no fixed location for their businesses can claim a home office deduction if they use the space for administrative or management activities, even if they don’t meet clients there, but must use the space exclusively for business.

Other expenses you can accelerate include paying an estimated state income tax bill due January 15, or a property tax bill due early next year.

There is an year-end issue, though, because certain expenses that are deductible under the regular rules are not deductible under the Alternative Minimum Tax. State and local income taxes and property taxes, for example, are not deductible under the AMT. So, if you expect to be subject to the AMT in 2015, don’t pay the installments that are due in January 2016 in December 2015.