Planning strategies and techniques available through the end of the year
The big news of 2025 on the tax front has been the July passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). The act permanently extended nearly all provisions set to expire at the end of 2025 under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). This included lower tax rates for individuals, the termination of the personal exemption, the increased standard deduction, and many other items. In addition, the act made new deductions applicable to seniors, tip workers, and hourly wage earners receiving overtime pay. The act also terminated many of the green energy credits available to individuals under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.
Last year, the impending sunset of the TCJA was of paramount importance in preparing for the 2025 tax year. The passage of OBBBA takes nearly all of the steam out of those preparations. However, OBBBA does present some new considerations for the end of 2025, especially for those provisions that take effect for this tax year. Additionally, there are a handful of tax provisions that will still expire at the end of the year and may need attention.
Besides anything related to new, extended, or expiring tax issues, there is always the continued application of tried-and-true year-end tax strategies from years’ past. The best plan for the next few weeks is to take advantage of the simple tactics of deferring income and increasing current deductions and coupling that with any new considerations from OBBBA.
