Planning for the holidays? Plan for your taxes first!

When the calendar page flips to November, thoughts shift to planning the holiday season – menus and guests for Thanksgiving, followed by plans for festive holiday gatherings with family and friends through December.

Not so fast! Before you baste your turkey or trim your tree, take some time to plan for the inevitable tax filing deadline of April 15th. It will be here before you know it, and there are certain steps you can take now – before year's end – to ease the pain next spring.

The Rhode Island Society of Certified Public Accountants (RISCPA) presents its annual Tax Planning Forum 2011 on Sunday, November 20 at 2 P.M. on WSBE Rhode Island PBS. This informative discussion outlines changes to the tax code and offers tax planning strategies and advice about what to do before December 31 to make filing income taxes easier and less… taxing in April.

Tax Planning Forum 2011 will be re-broadcast in WSBE Learn on Thursday, December 8 at 9 P.M., Friday, December 9 at 4 A.M., and Saturday, December 10 at 1 A.M. and 4 P.M.

WSBE Rhode Island PBS transmits standard-definition (SD) and high-definition (HD) programming over the air on digital 36.1; on cable services: Cox 08 / 1008HD, Verizon 08 / 508HD, Full Channel 08, Comcast 819HD; on satellite: DirecTV 36, Dish Network 7776. WSBE Learn transmits over the air on digital 36.2; on cable: Cox 808, Verizon 478, Full Channel 109, Comcast 294 or 312.