2026 Year-End Tax Tips: Moves to Make Before December 31

If you’re ready for some year-end tax planning, you’re going to want to update your checklist from last year as several provisions from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) – the 2025 law that reset many 2026 limits and thresholds – go into effect. Year-end tax planning involves the moves you make before December 31st to reduce what you owe, based on the tax rules in effect for the tax year for which you’ll be filing. Most of last year’s playbook still works, but there are 2026 updates worth understanding. Before December 31, max out retirement accounts, harvest losses, and recheck your charitable strategy under the new OBBBA rules.

#Key takeaways

• 2026 isn’t a repeat of 2025. New OBBBA provisions take effect this tax year and change which year-end moves actually pay off.
• Charitable giving works differently now, in two opposite directions. If you itemize, a new floor equal to 0.5% of your adjusted gross income (AGI) means the first slice of your giving isn’t deductible. If you don’t itemize, you can deduct up to $1,000 for single filers, $2,000 for joint filers, for the first time since 2021.
• Most households take the standard deduction. This year the standard deduction is $32,200 for joint filers, $16,100 for single filers. It’s important to know which side of the line you’re on as most online charitable-deduction advice doesn’t apply to the majority of readers.
• Contribution limits increased for 2026. This year the contribution limit for 401(k)s is $24,500. The limit is $7,500 for IRAs, and $4,400 (self) or $8,750 (family) for HSAs. The catch-up contribution for 401(k)s is $8,000 for those aged 50 or older. For people aged 60-63, the amount is increased to $11,250. The IRA catch-up is $1,100.
• There are two deadlines, not one, to remember. All 401(k) deferrals, FSA spending, charitable gifts, and tax-loss harvesting needs to be completed on or before December 31st. IRA and HSA contributions for the 2026 tax year can be made until April 15, 2027.
• You shouldn’t make any year-end tax moves without first knowing your adjusted gross income. This is the number that determines your charitable floor and nearly every phaseout under the OBBBA.

#What’s actually different about year-end 2026

The OBBBA didn’t rewrite the entire tax code, but it does touch on several levers most existing year-end checklists rely upon. Here’s what changed from 2025 to 2026:

Overall, contribution limits increased across the board while charitable giving got more complicated in a way that rewards those who plan ahead.

#Start here: will you itemize, or take the standard deduction?

This is the fork that determines which of the moves we’ll discuss actually matter to you. Roughly nine out of 10 filers use the standard deduction. For 2026, this is $32,200 for married couples filing jointly and $16,100 for single filers. If your mortgage interest, state and local taxes (capped at $40,400 for most filers under the current SALT cap), and charitable gifts don’t add up to more than that, itemizing won’t lower your bill and the charitable floor doesn’t apply at all.

The SALT (state and local taxes) cap increase is the main reason some households are newly crossing into itemizing territory this year. If you’re in a high-tax state and pay a substantial mortgage, it’s worth running the math before assuming you’re in standard-deduction territory by default.

#Which year-end moves work no matter what?

• Max out your 401(k). The 2026 limit is $24,500 (excluding the $8,000 catch-up for 50 and over participants, and $11,250 super catch-up for those aged 60-63). If your employer offers a match, this is the closest thing to free money available to you. Aim to capture the full match first and then push toward the limit if your cash flow allows. Deferrals to 401(k)s close with your last paycheck of the year.

• Fund your IRA and HSA. The 2026 IRA limit is $7,500 with a $1,100 catch-up. HSA limits are $4,400 for self and $8,750 for family coverage. To have an HSA, you need to enroll in a high-deductible health plan first. The good news is you have until April 15, 2027 to contribute to these accounts for the 2026 tax year.

• Spend down your FSA. Flexible spending accounts are use-it-or-lose-it. The 2026 limit is $3,400, and many plans allow for a $680 carryover into 2027. Check your plan’s specific rule before December 31st.

• Harvest tax losses. If you’re holding investments below what you paid for them, selling locks in a loss you can then use to offset any realized gains and up to $3,000 of ordinary income if losses exceed gains, with any excess carried forward indefinitely. Watch the wash sale rule though. Buying a “substantially identical” security within 30 days before or after the sale disqualifies the loss.

• Check your withholding and estimated payments. A quick paycheck-withholding check before year-end can prevent an underpayment penalty in April. This is of particular importance if you earned a bonus, sold investments, or changed jobs during the year.

• Claim the new Schedule 1-A deductions. Four new above-the-line deductions apply for 2026, meaning they work even if you take the standard deduction. Tips (up to $25,000), overtime premium pay (up to $12,500 single / $25,000 married filing jointly), car loan interest (up to $10,000), and a $6,000 senior deduction per qualifying person 65 and older. Each phases out above certain income levels. Car loan interest phases out at $100,000 modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) for single filers, $200,000 for joint filers. The senior deduction phases out at $75,000 for single filers, $150,000 for joint filers. The tips and overtime deductions begin phasing out above $150,000 for single filers and $300,000 for joint filers.

#Charitable giving in 2026 has new math

This is really where 2026 differs from other years.

If you don’t itemize: for the first time since the pandemic-era rules expired in 2021, you can deduct charitable cash gifts even while taking the standard deduction, up to $1,000 for single filers and $2,000 for those who are married filing jointly. This is claimed on Schedule 1 and doesn’t apply to gifts made through a donor-advised fund (DAF).

If you itemize: a new floor now applies. The first 0.5% of your AGI in charitable giving is no longer deductible at all. At $150,000 AGI, that means the first $750 of what you give doesn’t count. At $400,000 AGI, it’s the first $2,000.

A few ways households are responding to the new floor:

• Bunching. Combining two or three years of planned giving into a single tax year can push you well past the 0.5% floor in that year, then you take the standard deduction in the off years. Donor-advised funds are the common vehicle for this, since you can contribute the lump sum now and disperse it over time.
• Giving appreciated stock instead of cash. You deduct the full fair market value and avoid the capital gains tax you’d otherwise owe on selling it, and it still counts toward clearing the floor.
• Qualified charitable distributions (QCDs). If you are subject to required minimum distributions (RMDs), giving directly from an IRA bypasses the 0.5% floor entirely and also counts toward your RMD amount.
• Substantiation. Keep a written acknowledgment for any gift of $250 or more, and file Form 8283 for non-cash donations above $500.

#If you’re 65 or older, self-employed, or a high earner

• 65 and older: the new $6,000 per person senior deduction stacks on top of the regular standard deduction and the existing 65+ addition. If you’re taking RMDs, a QCD can satisfy the RMD and skip the charitable floor in the same move.

• Self-employed: a SEP IRA allows contributions up to $72,000 for 2026, well above a standard IRA. A solo 401(k) is worth comparing if you want higher contribution room at lower income levels. Year-end is also the time to review Schedule C expense timing as accelerating deductible purchases or deferring invoices can shift income between tax years.

• High earners: the SALT deduction phases out above roughly $505,000 MAGI; itemized deductions are capped at 35 cents on the dollar of value for filers in the 37% bracket; and the AMT exemption phases out at high income levels. The AMT exemption for 2026 is $140,200 for married couples filing jointly as well as surviving spouses, $90,100 for single filers, and $70,100 for married couples filing separately. The AMT exemption begins to phase out at a rate of 50% of excess AMT income over $500,000 for single and married filing separately, and $1,000,000 for married filing jointly.

These interactions are specific enough that a CPA or enrolled agent can really earn their fee. A tax professional is worth involving before executing a Roth conversion, QCD, or anything touching a business entity.

#Coordinating year-end moves as a couple

Most tax-planning articles default to single filers. If you’re married, you likely have two incomes, two retirement plans, possibly even two HSAs. Still, you’ll have one joint return and one shared AGI that determines your charitable floor and every phaseout above. One partner’s fourth-quarter bonus can push the household past a threshold the other partner didn’t see coming. Before year-end, sit down together and look at combined contributions, combined AGI, and who is claiming what. Coordinating your moves matters: taxes are based on one shared financial picture, not two separate ones.

#Your year-end tax calendar

By December 31, 2026:

• 401(k) deferrals
• FSA spending
• Charitable gifts (cash, stock, DAF contributions, QCDs)
• Tax loss harvesting
• Required minimum distributions
• Roth conversions

By April 15, 2027:

• IRA contributions
• HSA contributions
• SEP IRA contributions (with an extension)

#Example scenarios

• Single filer, $85,000 AGI, renter, doesn’t itemize. Standard deduction: $16,100. The charitable floor here is irrelevant. The new $1,000 above-the-line deduction is the real win if they give to charity at all. Pushing an extra $3,000 into their 401(k) at a 22% marginal rate saves roughly $660.

• Married couple, $180,000 combined AGI, homeowner in a high-tax state. With $22,000 in SALT, $14,000 in mortgage interest, and $5,000 in giving, they total $41,000 in itemized deductions against a $32,200 standard deduction. Itemizing wins. Their 0.5% floor is $900, so $4,100 of their $5,000 of giving is deductible.

• Self-employed filer, $120,000 AGI. A SEP IRA contribution up to $72,000, an HSA contribution of $4,400, and year-end timing on business expenses are the biggest levers for this person. Their charitable floor is $600.

• Retired couple, both 68, $95,000 combined income. Their standard deduction stacks: $32,200 base, plus the additional 65+ amounts, plus $12,000 in new senior deductions. If they take the standard deduction the 0.5% floor is not applicable.

#How Monarch helps

Every move on this list depends on your household’s AGI. The charitable floor, the SALT phaseout, and the tips-deduction phaseouts are all driven by it. It’s difficult to calculate your AGI without seeing every account, paycheck, and investment in one place. This is where Monarch gives you a complete view. Monarch is built for you and your household and we don’t sell your data or run ads against it.

Saved reports in Monarch filtered to deductible categories replace the shoebox-of-receipts scramble we’ve all done to prepare for taxes. What-if planning scenarios let you model whether deferring a fourth quarter bonus into January actually changes your bracket, before you ask your employer to do it. The investment view surfaces positions sitting at a loss based on what you actually paid, not just today’s value. Because Monarch is built for households, you and your partner can see the same AGI and the same contribution progress, instead of reconciling two separate pictures in December. If you run a small business, Monarch Plus adds Schedule C export to make expense timing easier to track.

Monarch doesn’t replace the need for a CPA, particularly when it comes to complex calculations, Roth conversions, QCDs, etc. But it shows you the numbers that help a tax professional focus on the moves that matter most for your return. Monarch makes sure you’re working from real numbers instead of guessing.

#Conclusion

The December 31st deadline is real, but the decisions are yours to make, not ours to prescribe. Figure out where you land on the standard-deduction line, understand which side of the new charitable math applies to you, and work through the moves that fit your situation from there. For everything outside taxes, from year-end insurance checks to a savings-rate tune-up, see our complete end-of-year financial checklist.

#FAQs

How can I reduce my tax bill before the end of the year?
Start with above-the-line moves that work regardless of whether you itemize or not. These include maxing out your 401(k), spending down your FSA, harvesting investment losses, and checking the new Schedule 1-A deductions for tips, overtime, car loan interest, and seniors. Then check whether your itemized deductions clear the 2026 standard deduction before optimizing charitable giving.

What is the deadline for year-end tax moves?
Most moves close on December 31st. IRA and HSA contributions for the 2026 tax year, however, stay open until April 15, 2027.

Do I still get a charitable deduction if I don’t itemize?
Yes, starting in 2026 you can. You may deduct up to $1,000 in cash gifts for single filers, and $2,000 if you’re married filing jointly if you’re taking the standard deduction. This is new for the 2026 tax year.

How does the 0.5% charitable deduction floor work?
If you itemize, the first 0.5% of your AGI in charitable giving is no longer deductible. At $150,000 AGI, that’s the first $750 of what you give. Giving above that floor is still deductible as before.

Should I itemize or take the standard deduction in 2026?
Add up your mortgage interest, state and local taxes (capped at $40,400 for most filers), and charitable giving. If the total exceeds $32,200 (married filing jointly) or $16,100 (single), itemizing likely saves you more. Roughly nine out of 10 filers use the standard deduction.

How much can I contribute to my 401(k) and IRA for 2026?
The 401(k) limit is $24,500 (with an $8,000 catch-up contribution for people aged 50 or older, or $11,250 for people aged 60-63). The IRA limit is $7,500 (with a $1,100 catch-up contribution for people aged 50 or older). HSA limits are $4,400 for self-only, and $8,750 for family coverage.