After years of hysteria over the scheduled sundown of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) on the finish of 2025, the broadly anticipated laws extending and changing TCJA – also referred to as the “One Massive Lovely Invoice Act” (OBBBA) – was signed into legislation on July 4, 2025.
At its core, OBBBA makes everlasting lots of the provisions of the unique TCJA, together with TCJA’s tax brackets, elevated customary deduction, Part 199A deduction for Certified Enterprise Earnings (QBI), and elevated Youngster Tax Credit score. All of those obtain minor tweaks however stay considerably the identical as they had been below TCJA. Nevertheless, the $10,000 limitation on State And Native Tax (SALT) deductions is quickly elevated to $40,000 below the brand new legislation. Larger-income households may even see this deduction phased again all the way down to the $10,000 restrict, and all households will once more be topic to the $10,000 SALT cap starting in 2030.
Moreover, OBBBA introduces a number of new below-the-line tax deductions whereas amending quite a few others. The brand new legislation introduces a short lived $6,000 deduction for seniors age 65+, deductions of as much as $25,000 of earnings from ideas and time beyond regulation wages, and as much as $10,000 of curiosity paid on qualifying auto loans. All of those provisions take impact from 2025 by 2028. Amongst a number of adjustments to itemized deductions, the brand new legislation most notably introduces a 0.5%-of-AGI ‘ground’ on charitable contributions, lowering the deductible worth of quantities donated to charity. It additionally imposes a brand new limitation for taxpayers within the 37% tax bracket, capping the ‘worth’ of itemized deductions to 35% of taxable earnings.
Additionally included are a bunch of different tax adjustments, together with (however not restricted to) decreased phaseout thresholds and a quicker phaseout price for the Various Minimal Tax (AMT) exemption, an growth of eligible 529 plan bills to cowl Okay–12 supplies and postsecondary credentials, and an extension of the Certified Alternative Zone program. The legislation additionally will increase the present and property tax exclusion to $15 million per particular person and creates a brand new “Trump account”, a kind of IRA that may be funded at a younger age (and with none earned earnings).
In the end, whereas lots of the particular person provisions below OBBBA are comparatively minor adjustments from current legislation, collectively they signify a considerable shift in tax coverage – one which provides a major quantity of complexity to tax planning with the variety of new deductions, phaseout guidelines, and efficient dates governing OBBBA’s provisions. Which is able to make it all of the extra priceless for advisors to grasp how their purchasers stand to be impacted by the brand new guidelines, in order that they have interaction in proactive planning that takes all the brand new (and outdated) guidelines under consideration and interprets them into actionable methods for his or her purchasers!