While you're busily wrapping up your holiday gifts, there's another thing you can wrap up in December -- your company's tax planning. A few simple steps taken before the end of the year can help you save money when tax time next rolls around.

In yesterday's column, I listed some of the ways to save money on year-end tax strategies. Today, I'm sharing a few additional tips:

• Buy necessary equipment, software, and other tangible property

  Section 179 of the tax code allows you to deduct or "expense" -- rather than depreciate -- certain purchases. In other words, you can take the entire amount as a deduction this year rather than only a percentage of the expense. This means that Uncle Sam immediately helps offset the cost of vital new equipment or other big-ticket items. So go shopping!
  

• Open a retirement account

  Retirement accounts can be a great tax shelter for the self-employed. As long as you set up a qualified plan by Dec. 31, you don't have to put the money in until you actually pay your taxes (April 15 or later if you get an extension). If you've had a good year, this is a great way to shelter income and lower taxes. Talk to someone about an IRA, Self-Employment Plan, or KEOGH Plan now.
  

• Join Weight Watchers

  reimbursed medical and dental expenses can only be deducted if they exceed 7.5 percent of your adjusted gross income. But a court ruling determined that costs of weight-loss programs could be included in medical expenses, as long as a doctor prescribed them. So if you're close to the requisite deduction in medical expenses and your doctor says to lose a few pounds, now might be the time to join a gym.
  

• Give a gift

  Many business owners want to share some value of their company with their children, siblings, non-married partner, or others. One way to do this without the recipient having to pay taxes is to give an annual gift. In 2006, the annual gift exclusion is raised to $12,000, so you and your spouse can each give a child up to $24,000 a year without a tax liability. There's a $1 million lifetime-gift tax exemption per person.
  

• Finally, if you plan to die by the end of the year, you might want to hold off for a few more years, especially if you're a billionaire.

  In 2006, the first $2,000,000 of your estate is tax-free to your heirs. But if you wait until 2010 to pass to your final reward in that one year, and that one year only, there will be no estate tax. So you can pass all your mega-billions on to your heirs without the government touching a cent.