Your Year-End Tax Toolkit: Critical Moves to Consider Before Major 2026 Changes

As 2025 draws to a close, we need to sharpen the financial focus a bit. While the holiday season is in full swing, there’s a serious window of opportunity and urgency before the calendar flips, which is the exact purpose for our December 2025 Financial Planning Update.

Significant tax law changes are slated for 2026 under the new legislation, meaning the value and availability of certain tax strategies will shift, or disappear entirely, in the new year.

This month, we’re providing a concise breakdown of the three most time-sensitive financial planning moves you should be considering now. These strategies, focused on charitable giving, the SALT deduction, and HSA eligibility, could lead to substantial savings, but they require year-end action.

We strongly encourage you to review the summary below. Getting ahead of these 2026 changes is key to maintaining your tax efficiency.

Tax Moves to Consider Before 2025 Ends

1. Make Charitable Donations for Maximum Tax Savings (for Itemizers)

Starting in 2026, gifts to charity made may provide smaller tax benefits. A new rule limits how much of your donation you can deduct.

That means a donation you make next year might not be worth as much as one you make this year. However, taxpayers taking the standard deduction will gain a new $1,000 charitable deduction per filer.

2. Take Advantage of the Bigger SALT Deduction In Place Now

The SALT deduction (your federal deduction for state and local taxes) jumps from $10,000 to $40,000 in 2025 for people earning $500,000 or less.

If you make between $500,000 and $600,000, the deduction gradually shrinks, until it drops back to $10,000. Income levels in that range may want to adjust income to access the bigger deduction.

3. Adjust Your Health Insurance Now to Qualify for an HSA in 2026

Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) are extremely tax-friendly. They let you save money tax-free, invest it tax-free, and spend it tax-free on medical expenses.

Until now, only people with high-deductible health plans could use them.

Now, in 2026, millions more people will become eligible – including those with ACA Bronze and those using certain subscription-based primary care services (see our October edition for more detail on this). The most time-sensitive of these areas is charitable giving.

Beginning in 2026, charitable deductions become less favorable. A new rule introduces a 0.5% adjusted gross income (AGI) floor, meaning the first portion of your charitable giving will not be deductible.

Additionally, the tax benefit will be capped at 35 cents per dollar contributed, reducing the value of deductions for many taxpayers in the highest tax bracket. For example, if you have $100,000 of AGI and donate $5,000, the first $500 (0.5% of AGI) would not be deductible, while the remaining $4,500 would. This makes charitable gifts made in 2025 potentially more valuable than the same donations next year.

If you already plan to give in the future, accelerating part or all of those gifts into this year may provide a larger tax benefit. You can find more detail on the new tax rules for this here.

Donor Advised Funds

A donor-advised fund can help by providing an immediate deduction while allowing the actual donations to charities to be made over time. Donating appreciated stock can offer even more value by removing capital gains tax on the appreciation. Donor-advised fund contributions cannot be reversed, so they should only be used when you are certain you want to donate the money.

In addition to charitable donations, another important opportunity to increase deduction amounts for those that itemize deductions lies in the expanded SALT deduction for 2025. The cap increases to $40,000 for people earning $500,000 or less, which can significantly increase the value of itemizing.

One of the items under the SALT deduction, for example are your property taxes. If your property taxes are $12,000, you will be able to deduct all of it rather than it being capped at $10,000.Individuals and business owners with flexible income – such as those who receive bonuses or realize capital gains – may benefit from shifting income into 2026 to stay below the $500,000 mark. If you make between $500,000 and $600,000, this $40,000 gradually decreases back down to $10,000.

Homeowners in states with no income tax may be able to increase their 2025 SALT deduction by prepaying some 2026 property taxes before the end of the year.

There are some caveats here:

Not all local governments allow the prepayment of property taxes. Deferring income to get a better SALT deduction in 2025 may raise your taxable income, Medicare costs, or phaseout exposure in 2026, offsetting the savings. Because the Alternative Minimum Tax becomes more aggressive next year, increasing your SALT deduction could heighten the risk of triggering AMT.

Business owners shifting income must also consider how it affects their qualified business income deduction, retirement contributions, and estimated tax needs. A decision that saves tax in one area may increase tax in another.

Lastly – the expanded access to HSAs in 2026. HSAs offer tax-free growth and tax-free withdrawals for medical expenses, which can be very valuable over time.

For some, switching to an ACA Bronze or Catastrophic plan this year is a chance to unlock an incredibly tax-efficient savings tool (note: not every plan qualifies for this). For others, changing health plans just for an HSA may not be worth the trade-offs.

Business owners with employees must follow group health plan rules, and S-corporation owners cannot use pre-tax payroll deductions for HSA contributions.

Open enrollment dates to remember:

• Marketplace enrollment window for 2026 ACA plans: Nov 1, 2025 – Jan 15, 2026:
  • Enroll by Dec 15 for coverage starting Jan 1.
  • Enroll between Dec 16 – Jan 15 for coverage starting Feb 1.
• Employer coverage: Open enrollment is usually in October or November, though it varies by employer.
• Medicare (Advantage and Part D): Annual enrollment typically runs Oct 15–Dec 7.

There are opportunities available in 2025 that won’t exist next year. By giving strategically to charity, planning around the new SALT deduction, and preparing for expanded HSA access, you can set yourself up for lower taxes both now and in the years to come.

These strategies are optional tools, not obligations, and it’s important to understand both their potential benefits and their possible pitfalls.

We are, of course, here to guide you through that as well.

Wishing you all the warmest of holidays and a very Happy New Year.

Cheers!