Year-End Planning in the First Full OBBBA Year: A Fourth-Quarter Checklist
Good to Know
By September, the best year-end tax planning is already moving — and 2026 is not a year to run on autopilot. It's the first full year every provision of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act is in effect at once, and several of the most useful ones come with a clock.[1] The work you and your clients do before December 31 lands against a tax code that looks meaningfully different from the one most plans were built on.
Start with what's permanent, because it changes the tone of the estate conversation. The federal estate and gift tax exemption is $15 million per individual in 2026, and OBBBA made that level permanent — indexed for inflation — rather than letting it sunset. The annual gift exclusion is $19,000 per recipient.[2] For most clients that removes the “use it before it disappears” urgency that drove recent years of gifting. The planning shifts from beating a deadline to deciding, calmly, how much control to give up and when.
The provisions with a clock
Two OBBBA changes are temporary and worth acting on while they last:
- The SALT cap rose to $40,000 for 2026 (indexed up 1% a year through 2029), then reverts to $10,000 in 2030. It phases out for high earners with MAGI over $500,000.[3] For clients in high-tax states who've been stranded at the old $10,000 cap, this is a real, time-limited benefit — and a reason to revisit bunching and the timing of state tax payments.
- A new $6,000 “senior bonus” deduction for filers 65 and older applies for 2025 through 2028, phasing out above $75,000 MAGI (single) and $150,000 (joint).[3] It's modest and income-limited, but easy to miss.
An advisor scenario
ADVISOR SCENARIO
A married couple, both 67, in a high-tax state, tell you they “already did their tax planning with the CPA in the spring.” A second look finds three things the spring meeting couldn't: the $40,000 SALT cap makes itemizing worthwhile for them again, the senior deduction is within reach if they manage MAGI, and a qualified charitable distribution can satisfy part of an RMD while keeping income under the phaseouts.
None of that is exotic. It's timing — and timing is a fourth-quarter job.
The charitable-and-RMD lever
For clients over 70½, the qualified charitable distribution remains one of the cleanest year-end moves: up to $111,000 in 2026 can go directly from an IRA to charity, satisfying part or all of an RMD without adding to income.[4] Because so many OBBBA benefits — the senior deduction, IRMAA thresholds, SALT phaseouts — hinge on MAGI, using a QCD instead of a cash gift can quietly unlock several of them at once. That coordination, not any single move, is where the value is.
A Q4 checklist
Run this with clients before December 31:
1
Re-examine the SALT decision.
For high-tax-state clients, model itemizing under the $40,000 cap and revisit the timing of state estimated payments.
2
Check the senior deduction.
For clients 65 and older, see whether managing MAGI brings the $6,000 deduction into range.
3
Use QCDs to control income.
For clients over 70½, route charitable intent through the IRA (up to $111,000) to satisfy RMDs and hold MAGI down.
4
Reset the estate conversation.
With the $15M exemption now permanent, replace deadline-driven gifting with a deliberate, unhurried wealth-transfer plan.
5
Coordinate with the CPA.
These moves touch the return directly — align on them now, not in April.
The Bottom Line
OBBBA didn't just change the numbers; it changed which moves are worth making, and when. The permanent pieces let you slow the estate conversation down; the temporary ones reward acting before the window closes. Fourth quarter is when a plan either captures that or misses it. The advisors who add the most value this season won't be the ones who know the provisions — everyone will — but the ones who sequence them around each client's income.
Coordinating tax, charitable, and estate moves against a single client's income is exactly the integrated thinking the CFP® curriculum is built around.
Sources
- Morningstar. The Advisor's 2026 Guide to OBBBA Planning. morningstar.com/financial-advisors/advisors-2026-guide-obbba-planning(opens in new tab)
- Morgan Lewis. IRS Announces Increased Gift and Estate Tax Exemption Amounts for 2026 ($15M exemption; $19,000 annual exclusion). morganlewis.com(opens in new tab)
- Anchin. SALT Deduction Cap Under OBBBA ($40,000 for 2026–2029); OBBBA $6,000 senior deduction (2025–2028). anchin.com(opens in new tab)
- IRS. Qualified Charitable Distributions — 2026 limit of $111,000. irs.gov/newsroom(opens in new tab)
