WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Forget the sales and the 30-plus shopping days until Christmas Day — it's the 41 days until the end of 2010 that can really affect your bottom line.

Year-end tax planning is now even more confusing than usual, because there are a slew of tax provisions up in the air until the US Congress acts.

But a certain amount of clarity is emerging, and advisers are telling their clients to expect an extension of the Bush-era tax cuts at least through 2011. That means there is still time to take actions now that will save big money in April. Here's a round-up of their best advice.

• Don't obsess over the uncertainties, but watch that space. There is somewhat of a consensus that Congress will extend the Bush-era tax cuts for most taxpayers, and probably will for even the wealthiest taxpayers, at least temporarily.

So don't plan as though your tax rates will climb precipitously next year. But if you'd rather be sure, wait to see what Congress does in its lame-duck session before making any moves that depend on that extension. A deal could be struck to complete a tax bill before the holidays.

• Take losses, creatively. This year, every time the stock market rises, it seems to reverse and fall. That's hard to watch, but it means many investors have lost money on their stocks and mutual funds. Sell, and you can use those losses to offset gains and up to $3,000 of ordinary income, advises Rande Spiegelman, vice-president of financial planning at Schwab. He said the so-called "wash sale rule" prohibits buying the same security within a month of selling for a loss.

But in most cases, there are many alternative stocks and funds to buy instead. Bob Trinz of Thomson Reuters Tax & Accounting suggests taking this strategy a bit further. He recommends that investors avoid realizing long-term gains if they have more short-term gains than short-term losses. That way they can use their long-term losses to offset the short-term gains, which would otherwise be taxed as ordinary income. This strategy is based on the belief that tax rates on long-term capital gains will remain lower than rates on ordinary income for some years to come, so it makes sense to use as much of the losses as possible offsetting higher-taxed items.

• Give shares of stocks to your young-adult children, suggests Schwab's Spiegelman. If your "kids" are older than 24 and low-earners who are still relying on you for support, you can pay them in shares of stock and avoid capital-gains taxes. Folks in the lowest two tax brackets ($34,000 or less of taxable income for a single filer) have a zero percent capital gains rate in 2010; If your son fits that profile, you can give him appreciated shares and he can sell them without paying any taxes on the the gain. That's better than you selling the shares, paying taxes at your higher 15 percent rate and then giving him what's left over.

• Give shares of stock to charities, too. If you paid $6,000 for 100 shares of stock, and sell it for $10,000, you'll have to pay $600 in taxes on the $4,000 gain before you can give the $9,400 that's left to charity. Instead, give the shares directly to the charity and it can sell them and get the full $10,000 tax-free. You'll get a charitable deduction for the full amount, too. Act in a timely fashion, warns J. P. Morgan, which advises its clients to use this strategy. The shares have to be officially transferred before the end of the year to qualify for a deduction on your 2010 taxes.

• Do the usual year-end shifting. Start piling up deductions now by paying property taxes, making those January mortgage and tuition payments early, stashing as much as you can into your health savings account, 529 college savings plan and self-employment retirement plans.

• Plan for the alternative minimum tax. Tax-writing leaders of both political parties have promised they would patch the expiring breaks that exclude many middle income taxpayers from the AMT. So it is likely that you will not have to worry about it unless you got hit by it last year. If you paid the AMT last year and your tax situation is similar, take all of the advice in the previous paragraph and reverse it. Defer deductions until next year, because you will lose their value when you pay the AMT.

• Do that Roth rollover. Paying some taxes now to avoid more later actually makes sense for a lot of people, according to Justin Ransome of accounting firm Grant Thornton. Anyone with a tax-deferred IRA can roll that money over into a Roth. They will owe taxes on the tax-deferred amount they move over, but then the money will grow tax-free until it's withdrawn for retirement. This year only, folks who do that can spread that tax burden over 2011 and 2012.

Since it looks as if the low-income tax rates will prevail at least that long, moving the Roth now and deferring the tax could be a very smart move.

But it's very complex and not everyone will benefit, so this one is worth paying an accountant or other expert to crunch your numbers for you.

Linda Stern can be reached at linda.stern@thomsonreuters.com