Tax planning used to run on a clock: most of the 2017 tax cuts were set to expire, so every strategy carried an unspoken "use it before it disappears" warning. That era is over. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act locked the individual tax framework in place for good, layered on a set of brand-new deductions, and the IRS has since finalized every inflation-adjusted figure for 2026.
We worked through the statute, the IRS revenue procedure, and the accompanying guidance, then distilled it into one plain-English playbook: the 2026 Personal Tax Planning Guide, free in two formats.
Read it online: the web edition works in any browser, with a linked table of contents that jumps straight to any chapter or topic inside it.
Take it with you: the PDF edition is made for printing, saving, and sharing, complete with a clickable table of contents and sidebar bookmarks.
What Makes 2026 Different
The real story here isn't any one figure — it's that the rules have stopped moving. The seven-bracket structure and the 37% top rate are now fixed rather than set to lapse. The 20% deduction for qualified business income is permanent. The estate and gift exemption holds at $15 million per person instead of being cut in half as previously scheduled. That stability changes how planning works: it's no longer about beating a deadline, it's about building strategies that hold up across multiple years.
Alongside that permanence, OBBBA introduced a set of genuinely new provisions — several with expiration dates, so timing matters if you plan to use them:
- Taxpayers 65 and up can claim an extra $6,000 deduction, income-limited, running 2025 through 2028
- New above-the-line deductions apply to qualified tips, overtime pay, and interest on loans for U.S.-assembled vehicles
- Even non-itemizers can now deduct charitable gifts permanently — $1,000 for single filers, $2,000 for joint
- So-called “Trump accounts” — tax-advantaged savings accounts for kids, each seeded with a $1,000 federal deposit for children born between 2025 and 2028
- The SALT write-off ceiling jumped from $10,000 to $40,400, though it phases down for higher earners
- Businesses get 100% bonus depreciation back, along with immediate expensing of domestic R&D costs — both now permanent
2026 Figures at a Glance
| Provision | 2026 Figure |
|---|---|
| Standard deduction by filing status (single / MFJ / HoH) | $16,100 / $32,200 / $24,150 |
| Top tax bracket | 37% — permanent, no reversion |
| SALT write-off ceiling | $40,400 (phase-down above $505,000 MAGI) |
| Child Tax Credit amount | $2,200 per child ($1,700 refundable) |
| 401(k) contribution ceiling | $24,500 (+$8,000 age 50+; $11,250 ages 60–63) |
| Estate and gift tax exemption | $15,000,000 per person |
| Section 179 expensing | $2,560,000 (phase-out from $4,090,000) |
We checked every number in the guide against IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32 and the underlying statute, line by line, so what you read matches exactly what the IRS applies.
A Look Inside the Seven Chapters
Individual income tax planning
Covers 2026 brackets and rate tables, filing status choices, the larger standard deduction, the senior deduction, SALT, AMT, and the new deductions for tips, overtime, and car loans.
Investment-related tax issues
Walks through capital gains breakpoints, the net investment income tax, QSBS's wider exclusion, Opportunity Zones, crypto reporting, and the rules on selling a home.
Charitable tax planning
Explains the new 0.5% AGI floor, the non-itemizer deduction, strategies for gifting appreciated stock, donor-advised funds, and documentation requirements.
Family matters
The Child Tax Credit amount, dependent-care benefits, kiddie tax, 529 expansions, education credits, and Trump accounts.
Retirement planning
Details 2026 contribution limits, the age-60-to-63 super catch-up, Roth strategy now that rates are fixed, RMDs, and qualified charitable distributions.
Transfer tax planning
Addresses the now-permanent $15M exemption, gifting strategy, trust structures from ILITs to GRATs, and business succession planning.
Business planning
Covers entity choice, the now-permanent QBI deduction, depreciation and Section 179, R&D expensing, and the new 1099 reporting thresholds.
A settled tax code rewards patience. When the rules stop shifting, multi-year strategies — Roth conversion ladders, charitable bunching, structured gifting, entity restructuring — start outperforming quick, one-year fixes by a wide margin. Clients who plan several years out, rather than scrambling each April, are the ones who come out ahead in 2026.
How to Use the Guide
Jump to whichever chapters fit your situation — chapter 7 if you run a business, chapter 4 if you just had a child, chapter 5 if retirement is close. Watch for the "Planning Tip" callouts throughout; they're practical moves, not abstract theory. From there, bring your specific questions to your advisor — the guide explains the rules, and that conversation is what turns them into an actual plan.
Put the 2026 Rules to Work for You
We do the reading so you don't have to, then build a strategy around your income, your entity structure, and what you're trying to accomplish. Download the guide, and let's talk before year-end about which parts apply to you.
Book a free consultationSources
- MK Tax & Accounting — 2026 Personal Tax Planning Guide (mktaxacc.com/downloads)
- One Big Beautiful Bill Act, P.L. 119-21 (Congress.gov)
- IRS — Rev. Proc. 2025-32, Tax Year 2026 Inflation Adjustments (IRS.gov)
- IRS — IR-2025-103, 2026 Inflation Adjustments Announcement (IRS.gov)
- IRS — New and Enhanced Deductions for Individuals (IRS.gov)
Frequently asked questions
No — it's free, full stop. Open the web edition right away or download the 76-page PDF from mktaxacc.com. We'd rather our clients and the wider community start the year working from accurate numbers.
Nothing but the format changes. The web edition works in any browser with navigation down to individual topics, while the PDF is built for printing, saving, and sharing, with its own clickable contents and bookmarks.
Yes — every figure reflects tax year 2026 and was checked line-by-line against IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32 and the statutory amounts set by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Should the law change in a meaningful way, we'll update the guide, and the same links will point to the current version.
No. Think of it as background reading — it lays out the rules and the strategies available. Deciding which of those fit your income, your entity, and your goals still takes a conversation with your tax advisor; the guide just makes that conversation quicker and more focused.
