Author: Brian Perry

You know your 2025 federal income tax return is due April 15, 2026. But do you know what else has an April 15 deadline? If you don’t, you could miss out on valuable tax-saving opportunities or become subject to interest and even penalties. Making 2025 Contributions to an IRA It may be 2026, but you can still make a 2025 contribution to a traditional or Roth IRA until April 15. For 2025, eligible taxpayers can contribute up to $7,000 ($8,000 if they’re age 50 or older). The limit applies to traditional and Roth IRAs on a combined basis. If you contribute to a traditional IRA, you may be able...

Many businesses offer health care and dependent care flexible spending accounts (FSAs) as part of their employee benefits package. These plans provide valuable tax savings to employees and payroll tax savings to employers. If your company operates a calendar-year FSA with a 2½-month grace period, employees had until March 15 to incur eligible expenses for their 2025 plan balances. Now that the date has passed, any unused 2025 funds may be forfeited under the “use-it-or-lose-it” rule. Here’s a refresher on how FSAs work and what employers can do with forfeited balances. The Basics Under an employer-sponsored...

Personal interest expense generally can’t be deducted for federal tax purposes. There are, however, exceptions. Here are four, one of which is a new break under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), which was signed into law in 2025. 1. Mortgage Interest Perhaps the most well-known interest expense deduction, home mortgage interest may be deductible if you itemize deductions rather than claiming the standard deduction. You generally can deduct interest on mortgage debt incurred to purchase, build or improve your principal residence and a second residence. Points paid related to...

Raising a family comes with plenty of expenses, but it may also make you eligible for various tax breaks. Some of the most valuable are tax credits, because they reduce your tax liability dollar for dollar (unlike deductions, which only reduce the amount of income subject to tax). Here’s what you need to know. Child, Dependent, and Adoption Credits You may be eligible for one or more of these tax credits for families: Child credit. The maximum child credit is $2,200 for 2025. You may be able to claim it for each qualifying child under age 17 at the end of 2025. The credit begins to phase out...

If you used one or more vehicles in your business during 2025, you may be eligible for valuable tax deductions on your 2025 income tax return. Businesses can generally deduct expenses attributable to business use of a vehicle plus depreciation. However, the rules are complicated, and your deduction may be affected by factors such as the vehicle’s weight, business vs. personal use, and whether you use the actual expense method or the cents-per-mile rate. Actual Expenses Plus Depreciation The year you place a vehicle in service, you can choose to deduct the actual expenses attributable to your...

An important decision to make when filing your individual income tax return is whether to claim the standard deduction or itemize deductions. A change under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) will make it beneficial for more taxpayers to itemize deductions on their 2025 returns. Specifically, if you paid more than $10,000 in state and local taxes (SALT) last year, you might save tax by itemizing on your 2025 return even if claiming the standard deduction has saved you more tax in recent years. Claiming the Standard Deduction vs. Itemizing Taxpayers can choose to itemize certain deductions...

The deadlines for filing 2025 tax returns (or extensions) are fast approaching. Although most tax planning moves must be completed by December 31 of the tax year, there are some decisions you can make when filing your return that can save taxes now or in the future. One such decision is whether to claim accelerated depreciation breaks. Depreciation Basics For assets with a useful life of more than one year, the cost generally must be depreciated over a period of years (unless accelerated depreciation breaks are available). In other words, taxpayers can deduct only a portion of the asset’s cost...

Married couples have a choice when filing their 2025 federal income tax returns. They can file jointly or separately. What you choose will affect your standard deduction, eligibility for certain tax breaks, tax bracket, and, ultimately, your tax liability. Which filing status is better for you depends on your specific situation. Minimizing Tax In general, you should choose the filing status that results in the lowest tax. Typically, filing jointly will save tax compared to filing separately. This is especially true when the spouses have different income levels. Combining two incomes can bring...

If you itemize deductions on your 2025 individual income tax return, you potentially can deduct donations to qualified charities you made last year. But your gifts must be substantiated in accordance with IRS requirements. Exactly what’s required depends on various factors. In some cases, you must have a written acknowledgment from the charity. Substantiating Cash Donations If you made a cash gift of under $250, documentation such as a canceled check, bank statement or credit card statement is adequate. However, if you received something in return for the donation, you generally must reduce...

If you own a business or are self-employed and haven’t already set up a tax-advantaged retirement plan, consider establishing one before you file your 2025 tax return. If you choose a Simplified Employee Pension (SEP), you’ll be able make deductible 2025 contributions to it, saving you taxes. Not only is the SEP deadline favorable, but SEPs are easy to set up and the contribution limits are generous. If you have employees, you’ll generally have to include them in the SEP and make contributions on their behalf, which are also deductible. Deadlines in 2026 for 2025 A SEP can be established as...

A new tax-advantaged way to help children build up savings for the future was created by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA): Trump Accounts (TAs). Under a pilot program, you can make an election to set up a TA for your U.S. citizen child born in 2025 through 2028 and the federal government will fund the account with $1,000 of free money. But older children also are eligible for TAs as long as they have a Social Security number and are under 18 at the end of the tax year; they just aren’t eligible for the $1,000 government contribution. Getting Started One way to set up a TA is to file Form...