Updated September 2026. A plain-English guide to the moves that still count for your 2026 taxes while there’s still time to make them.

Most people think about taxes in March. By then, 2026 is over, and the only thing left to do is report what already happened.

Many of the decisions that can affect your 2026 tax bill, including when to take income, when to buy equipment, how to give to charity, or how to handle a divorce year, have to be made before December 31.

That’s what this guide is about: the parts of the tax law most likely to matter to Southwest Florida households this fall, who they affect, and what may be worth reviewing before year-end.

Important: This article is for general educational purposes only and isn’t tax advice for your individual situation. Tax rules change, and this doesn’t cover every eligibility requirement, exception, or state-law issue. Confirm details with IRS guidance and your tax professional before acting.

The Real Problem Isn’t Taxes. It’s Coordination.

Most avoidable tax pain comes from boring things: messy books, withholding that doesn’t match your income, an entity set up wrong, or a retirement withdrawal nobody connected to the rest of the return.

One decision quietly undoes another.

The fix usually isn’t an exotic tax strategy. It’s a clean system: good records, a fall review, and decisions made before they turn into tax bills.

A quick note on income: several of the rules below are based on modified adjusted gross income, or MAGI. That’s a tax-law number and isn’t always the same as the income number you have in mind. When a tax benefit phases out at a certain income, MAGI is often the number that matters.

If You’re Retired or Close to It

The new senior deduction. If you’re 65 or older by December 31, you may qualify for an additional $6,000 deduction for 2025 through 2028. For a married couple filing jointly, that can mean up to $12,000 if both spouses qualify.

You can receive the deduction whether or not you itemize, but it begins phasing out once modified adjusted gross income exceeds $75,000 for single filers or $150,000 for married couples filing jointly.

Why this becomes a year-end planning issue: a Roth conversion, large IRA withdrawal, or investment gain can increase your income and reduce part of the deduction. The same transaction may also affect Medicare Part B and Part D premiums, which are generally based on income from two years earlier.

Before converting, withdrawing, or realizing a large gain, look at the entire picture rather than evaluating the transaction in isolation.

Giving Directly From Your IRA

If you’re 70½ or older, a Qualified Charitable Distribution, or QCD, allows money to be sent directly from your IRA custodian to an eligible charity.

A QCD can count toward your required minimum distribution, and the distributed amount generally stays out of adjusted gross income even if you don’t itemize. Because of that, it may also help with other income-sensitive items, including the senior deduction and Medicare premiums.

The 2026 QCD limit is $111,000 per person.

A few rules matter. The money generally must go directly from the IRA to the charity, it must come from an eligible IRA rather than directly from a 401(k), and QCDs generally can’t be made to donor-advised funds or private foundations.

For IRA owners who already intend to give to charity, a QCD may be one of the more tax-efficient ways to do it.

If You Give to Charity

Two important changes apply beginning in 2026.

• If you take the standard deduction, you may now deduct up to $1,000 for single filers or $2,000 for married couples filing jointly for qualifying cash gifts. Gifts to donor-advised funds and non-cash gifts generally don’t qualify for this particular deduction.
• If you itemize, charitable giving is subject to a new floor equal to 0.5% of adjusted gross income. That means small, scattered gifts may produce less tax benefit than they once did.

Depending on the situation, bunching charitable gifts into one year, donating appreciated securities, or using QCDs may be worth comparing.

If You Earn Tips or Overtime

For 2025 through 2028, qualifying tips of up to $25,000 and qualifying overtime compensation of up to $12,500 for single filers or $25,000 for married couples filing jointly may be deductible.

Both deductions begin phasing out when modified adjusted gross income exceeds $150,000 for single filers or $300,000 for married couples filing jointly.

Two things can trip people up.

The overtime deduction generally applies to the additional overtime premium required under federal law, not necessarily your entire overtime paycheck.

And documentation matters. Save pay stubs, review how tips and overtime are being reported, and make sure your withholding still makes sense if you’re expecting to use the deduction.

If You Own a Business

Equipment and Vehicles

100% bonus depreciation is now permanent for qualifying property acquired after January 19, 2025.

For a purchase to count for 2026, however, the asset generally must be placed in service by December 31. Merely ordering it before year-end isn’t necessarily enough.

Whether a purchase qualifies depends on the type of asset, how it was acquired, and how much it’s used for business. Section 179 expensing is a separate option and should also be compared.

And don’t buy something you don’t need just for the deduction. Spending a dollar to save thirty cents is still spending a dollar.

Research and Development

Domestic research costs may once again generally be deducted in the year they’re incurred rather than automatically spread over five years, although businesses may still have elections and other rules to consider.

Research conducted outside the United States follows different rules.

If your business develops products, software, systems, or processes, talk with your tax professional about whether these rules apply.

What Business Owners Should Be Doing Now

• Reconcile your books through September. You can’t plan from numbers you don’t trust.
• If you own an S corporation, review salary versus distributions before the final payrolls of the year.
• Compare your fourth-quarter estimated payment against what actually happened this year rather than relying blindly on last year’s numbers.
• Review planned equipment purchases before December rather than trying to manufacture deductions at the last minute.

If You Have Kids or Are Going Through a Divorce

Your marital status on December 31 generally determines your filing status for the entire year.

If a divorce may be finalized near year-end, the date the final judgment is entered can affect whether you’re treated as married or unmarried for federal tax purposes. That deserves a conversation before the date is set, not afterward.

Who Claims the Children?

The Child Tax Credit is $2,200 per qualifying child for 2026.

In a divorce, the agreement should clearly address who claims which child and how the available tax benefits are intended to be handled.

If the noncustodial parent will claim the child as a dependent for purposes allowed under the special divorced-parent rules, the custodial parent generally must release the claim using Form 8332.

It’s also important to understand what Form 8332 doesn’t transfer. Head-of-household status, the earned income credit, and the child and dependent care credit are generally determined under their own rules and don’t simply follow the dependency release.

Get this settled before filing season so two parents don’t both attempt to claim the same child and end up with rejected or delayed returns.

Trump Accounts

Trump Accounts are new IRA-style savings accounts for children. Accounts and contributions became available beginning July 4, 2026.

A qualifying child may receive a one-time $1,000 Treasury contribution if the child is a U.S. citizen with a Social Security number, was born during the qualifying 2025 through 2028 period, and an eligible parent or other authorized person makes the required election using Form 4547.

Most individual and employer contributions share a combined $5,000 annual limit, although certain government, nonprofit, rollover, and pilot-program contributions are treated differently. Employer contributions may generally be up to $2,500 within the applicable rules.

For divorced or separated parents, don’t assume the divorce agreement alone controls the election. Federal tax rules determine who is permitted to make it and whether the child qualifies.

If You Recently Moved Here or Have a High Income

State and Local Tax Deduction

For 2026, the federal cap on deducting state and local taxes is $40,400, up substantially from the previous $10,000 limit.

The deduction begins shrinking once modified adjusted gross income exceeds $505,000 and eventually returns to $10,000 at higher income levels. Married couples filing separately generally use lower thresholds.

Florida doesn’t have an individual state income tax, so for many Southwest Florida households the deduction is primarily about property taxes.

It can matter more for people who recently moved from New York, New Jersey, Illinois, California, or another state and still have part-year state income taxes to pay, or for households whose income falls within the phaseout range.

Estate and Gift Planning

The federal estate and gift tax basic exclusion is $15 million per person for 2026.

That puts federal estate tax outside the concern of most households, but it doesn’t make estate planning irrelevant.

Wills, trusts, beneficiary designations, powers of attorney, healthcare documents, and account ownership still need to match your current life.

The annual gift tax exclusion remains $19,000 per recipient for 2026. Higher-net-worth families considering larger gifts or more advanced planning should coordinate those decisions with qualified estate-planning and tax counsel.

Your Year-End Tax Planning Checklist

October and November

• Project your actual 2026 income rather than relying on last year’s number.
• Retirees: review Roth conversions, IRA withdrawals, capital gains, QCDs, and Medicare implications together.
• Business owners: reconcile the books and plan equipment purchases before the last week of December.
• Review withholding and estimated payments.
• If you’re divorcing, address filing status, dependents, Form 8332, and the possible timing of the final judgment.
• Review charitable giving while you still have time to choose the most appropriate method.

Before December 31

• Complete charitable gifts and QCDs that need to count for 2026.
• Complete required minimum distributions if they apply to you, subject to the special timing rules for first-year RMDs.
• Place qualifying business equipment in service.
• Review final payroll and withholding.
• Complete any planned year-end investment sales or Roth conversions.

Then in January: make your fourth-quarter estimated payment if required, gather 1099s and K-1s, and consider setting up an IRS Identity Protection PIN if you don’t already have one.

At a Glance

Topic	Who It May Matter To	What to Review Before Year-End
Senior deduction	People age 65+, especially near the income phaseout	Coordinate conversions, withdrawals, and investment gains
Charitable giving	Households that give to charity	Cash gifts, appreciated securities, bunching, or QCDs
Tips and overtime	Hourly and service workers	Save documentation and review withholding
Bonus depreciation / R&D	Business owners	Clean up books and place qualifying equipment in service
Filing status / dependents	Families and divorcing parents	Address filing status, dependents, and Form 8332
Trump Accounts	Families with qualifying children	Confirm eligibility and understand contribution rules
SALT deduction	Recent movers and some higher-income households	Review property taxes, part-year state taxes, and income
Estate and gift planning	Higher-net-worth households	Review gifts and coordinate estate documents with counsel

Want This Coordinated for Your Situation?

Whether you’re retired, running a business as a sole proprietor, LLC owner, or S corporation owner, or going through a divorce, the goal is the same: fewer surprises and better decisions while there’s still time to make them.

A fall tax review is where that work happens.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this article tax advice?

No. It’s general education about current tax law. Every household’s facts and numbers are different, and the right strategy for one family can be the wrong one for another. Confirm your situation with your tax professional before acting.

Isn’t it too early to think about taxes?

For planning, it’s often the opposite. Once December 31 passes, many decisions are locked in. Fall is when you can still change the outcome instead of simply reporting it.

I’m going through a divorce. What should I be doing right now?

Understand whether your divorce is likely to be final before year-end, because your marital status at year-end can affect filing status. Address which parent will claim each child and whether Form 8332 is needed. Tax provisions involving children have their own federal rules, so don’t rely only on the wording of the divorce agreement.

Do you work with small business owners?

Yes. We work with sole proprietors, LLC owners, and S corporation owners. The goal is to look at bookkeeping, entity structure, payroll, estimated taxes, and the owner’s broader financial decisions together rather than treating each one as a separate problem.