Here we are again: another autumn. Time to dust off those year-end tax-cutting strategies.

I know … who wants to worry about taxes seven months before the filing deadline? Fall is the time to be outdoors, not poring over bills and mutual fund statements.

So I’ll make it quick — a fast survey of the key strategies for reducing your federal tax bills for 2004 and 2005.

The tax return you’ll file in April will cover the 2004 calendar year, so just about all tax-reducing moves have to be completed by Dec. 31.

(The chief exception is contributions to Individual Retirement Accounts; you’ll have until April 15 to make the 2004 contribution.)

Investors have good opportunities to cut taxes, mainly by selling their money-losing investments. This creates “realized losses” that can be used to offset any taxable profits on other investments sold during the year.

If the investments you sold, taken together, lost more than they made, you can use up to $3,000 of the losses to reduce your taxable income, and less income means less taxes you owe. And losses can be carried forward and used to offset gains or reduce income in future years.

The key is to complete the sale by the end of the year.

A loser is a stock, bond or mutual fund sold for less than was paid. This is not as straightforward as it seems. You may have some figuring to do.

Perhaps you invested in a mutual fund some years ago and used dividends and annual capital gains distributions to buy more shares over time.

You probably paid tax on those dividends and capital gains distributions in the year they were issued. This reinvested money should therefore be added to your original cost.

The total cost of buying shares over the years is divided by the number of shares you own now — those you bought initially plus the ones added over the years — to come up with an average price per share. Use that to figure the gain or loss per share by comparing with the current share price.

Remember that you can sell just the shares that lost money, probably the ones purchased at the highest prices. Your broker or fund company can tell you how to specify which shares to sell.

Of course, not all losers should be sold — just those you think aren’t likely to rebound.

Look over each in-the-red investment, forget about what it did in the past, and ask, “If I had fresh money to invest today, would this be attractive at today’s price?”

If the answer is yes, keep it. If not, let it go.

Mutual fund investors should be careful about jumping into funds late in the year, or else they inherit tax bills that could be avoided.

This happens because funds are required by law to pay out, or “distribute,” the net profits realized on stocks, bonds or other holdings the fund manager sold during the year.

But when a distribution of $1 a share is paid, for example, the share price drops by $1 a share, since the fund’s assets have been reduced by that amount. Shareholders have to pay tax on these distributions, even though they’re not any richer after the distribution than they were before.

Hence, it can pay to postpone a fund purchase until after the distribution is paid. The fund company can tell you when any distribution will be made and how large it is likely to be.

Another big tax-saving opportunity is found with 401(k)s. Contributions to these and similar retirement accounts are deducted from your taxable income, reducing your income tax. If you can afford to, put the maximum allowed into these plans. Your benefits people at work can provide details.

Your employer may also offer a flexible spending plan that allows a federal income tax deduction on money set aside for dependent care and medical expenses.

It’s too late to do this for 2004. But in the next couple of months you’ll have an opportunity to sign up for 2005. Again, your benefits folks can tell you how. Pay close attention to the rule that says money not spent is lost.