Your employer has a clock ticking to get your W-2 back to you by January 31, the IRS says. But are you ready when it arrives?

Here are some tips hoping you don’t leave any money on the table.

The IRS says 23.9% of people, almost 37 million Americans, showed taxes due at time of filing in 2022.

One certified public accountant says that could mean many Americans are not withholding enough of their income if they continue to get a tax refund. It’s not a savings account, and you’re missing out on your own money.

“So many people over-withhold, and they put too much into their federal withholdings, and then they get this big refund and think they did this great thing,” said CPA Maria Snyder with DiMarco, Abiusi and Pascarella. “What you did is you gave the government an interest-free loan. I want you to look at it as a means to breaking even to try to balance out what you've paid in with your withholdings for state and federal taxes versus what you're going to owe in April, and try to adjust your withholding to plan for the next year and next April 2025.”

The IRS reports the average tax refund received in 2023 was $2,753. If you had lowered your withholdings and invested that money for one year, it could have earned you hundreds of more dollars.

But, if you’re doing a good job; your withholdings are in order; and you are part of the almost 24% that owes, is there anything left that you can do to shelter even more money even though 2023 is over? Snyder says definitely.

She says always work with a CPA, and she offers two ideas you have time to do this year to protect you from paying too much on your 2023 taxes.

“Some of the things I recommend people consider are investing in an individual retirement account, which you can do up until April 15 and deduct it on your 2023 taxes,” Snyder said. “You can also contribute funds to a health savings account if you're in and eligible in an eligible high deductible health plan. And you can make those contributions up until April 15.”

Also, many people have “qualified dependents” that they are not including on their deductions, because of the dependents' ages or you may think you make too much. But if you’re supporting more than 50% of anyone’s expenses over the age of 17, they are qualified dependents that you can claim and lessen your tax burden.