Your 2026 Tax Calendar: Proactive Moves

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 (OBBBA) reshaped the tax landscape, making the former TCJA brackets permanent, reviving 100% bonus depreciation, and exempting tips and overtime from federal income tax. Now’s the time to use those rules to lower 2025 taxes and set up 2026 for success.

Why Planning Now Matters

With most major TCJA provisions now permanent under OBBBA, year-end planning is no longer about expiring breaks — it’s about aligning income, deductions, and timing to your specific situation. Business owners and individuals who act before December 31 can still capture major benefits in Q4 2025.

Time Income and Deductions

Because tax brackets are stable, focus on your multi-year income picture. Accelerate or defer income to smooth out your effective rate — especially if you expect changes in salary, commissions, or business income next year.

Maximize Expensing

OBBBA restored 100% bonus depreciation and permanent Section 179 expensing. If you’re eyeing equipment, vehicles, or software, make sure it’s placed in service by December 31 to claim the full deduction.

Use the Tips and Overtime Exemption

For service and shift-based industries, the new federal tax-free treatment of tips and overtime pay can meaningfully cut taxable income. Employers should update payroll systems and timekeeping to track these categories accurately.

Strengthen Your Year-End Portfolio

Harvest capital losses, review appreciated assets for gifting, and consider donor-advised funds to bunch charitable deductions.

Review Estimated Payments

Confirm Q4 estimates reflect your actual 2025 income — especially if your liability is lower because of new exemptions or deductions.

Early 2026: Execute, Don’t Scramble

• Organize docs early. Gather W-2s, 1099s, K-1s, and receipts in a secure portal.
• Reconcile your books. Ensure 2025 expenses are coded correctly for expensing and deduction tracking.
• Review your entity type. With expensing rules back in play, your S-Corp or partnership structure may need revisiting.
• Plan Q1 estimates. Update for any compensation or business changes under the new law.

Key OBBBA Highlights to Know

• Permanent 7-bracket structure (10–37%): no 2026 “sunset.”
• No federal income tax on tips and overtime (requires documentation).
• Permanent 100% bonus depreciation and R&D expensing for businesses.
• Modified clean-energy and housing credits—some incentives reduced, others extended.

Translation: The tax code now rewards planning around timing, documentation, and investment, not waiting for rules to expire.

Build Your 2026 “Tax Playbook”

1. Meet with your CPA before year-end — review income, capex, and deductions.
2. Update payroll policies to capture tip/overtime exemptions.
3. Keep a running tax calendar for filing dates, estimated payments, and strategy checkpoints.
4. Document everything — from equipment invoices to charitable gifts — while fresh.

Timeline Snapshot

Hold planning meeting, run projections

Approve year-end purchases, adjust payroll

Finalize charitable or investment moves

Assets in service, compensation timed

Review draft returns & plan Q1 estimates

The Bottom Line

The OBBBA made tax law more stable—but that stability makes strategy even more valuable. By acting in Q4 2025 and keeping momentum into early 2026, you can lock in deductions, optimize cash flow, and stay well ahead of the next tax season.

Ready to plan?

Schedule your year-end strategy session before November 30 to build your 2026 Tax Calendar and identify every opportunity under the new rules.