Quick Reference: Year-End OBBB Review Checklist
Strategies to consider before year end:
✓ Calculate 0% capital gains capacity using enhanced standard deduction + senior deduction (if 65+)
✓ Review estate exemption strategy — $15M per person is permanent (no 2026 sunset)
✓ Maximize senior deduction window — temporary provision expires after 2028
✓ Accelerate business equipment purchases — 100% bonus depreciation restored
✓ Document CPA coordination for pass-through entity tax considerations and year-end income timing
The fourth quarter of 2025 presents some of the most compelling year-end strategies we’ve seen in years, especially for high-net-worth (HNW) clients.
With the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB) now law, we’re operating in a fundamentally different planning environment, one where permanent low brackets, enhanced exemptions, and temporary provisions, create a unique convergence of opportunities.
Laws will always evolve, but right now, we have certainty around rates and exemptions that we haven’t had in over a decade.
Let’s explore year-end tax strategies for your HNW clients under the new tax laws in 2025:
Capital Gains Harvesting: The 0% Opportunity
Permanent low brackets create immediate planning opportunities. The OBBB Act permanently enhanced the standard deduction to $31,500 for married couples, plus $3,200 for couples age 65+, plus the temporary $12,000 senior bonus ($6,000 each).
Here’s the opportunity: A married couple, both age 68, with $40,000 Social Security and $30,000 pension has $64,000 in gross income. After $46,700 in total deductions, their taxable income is just $17,300 before capital gains.
With the 0% capital gains threshold at $96,700, they can realize $79,400 in long-term capital gains tax-free. That’s $11,910 in annual tax savings from resetting basis.
With these permanent brackets, you can build multi-year harvesting strategies with real certainty. Model this over five years and show clients how systematic basis resets compound into serious tax savings. For clients with remaining capacity, layer in Roth conversions to fill up the 24% bracket while rates are locked in.
[Related: 4 Types of Roth Conversion Strategies to Manage Taxes]
Estate Planning: The $15M Permanent Exemption
The OBBB Act increased the exemption to $15 million per person ($30 million per couple) with no sunset provision. After 12 years of high exemptions, dramatic cuts seem politically difficult.
This changes the gifting calculus. You now need to weigh estate tax savings against the loss of income tax basis step-up.
For example, consider a client with $20 million in stock, $4 million basis. Gifting saves $8 million in estate tax (40% rate), but beneficiaries lose the step-up. That $16 million of embedded gain is potentially subject to combined federal, NIIT (net investment income tax), and state capital gains rates—which can approach 37% in high-tax states.
With a permanent exemption, take time to analyze whether gifting really makes sense. For highly appreciated assets, holding until death might deliver better after-tax results. For the right clients, irrevocable trusts can still provide estate tax savings, asset protection, and multi-generational control, but as advisors, we now have the luxury to be more strategic about timing.
[Related: Optimizing Your Client’s Financial Plans with the Family Estate Organizer]
Senior Deduction: Four-Year Window (2025-2028)
The $6,000 senior bonus deduction per person age 65+ runs only through 2028. For couples where both qualify, that’s an extra $12,000 deduction on top of the enhanced standard deduction.
This dramatically expands 0% capital gains capacity. A couple that might have had room for $50,000 in tax-free gains now has room for $79,000+.
Over four years (2025-2028), a couple could realize over $300,000 in capital gains at 0% federal tax while resetting basis. After 2028, that capacity drops significantly.
Note: The $6,000 per-person senior bonus phases out, reduced by 6% of MAGI over $75,000 (single) / $150,000 (married filing jointly) and fully phased out at $175,000 / $250,000.
Consider building a systematic four-year harvesting strategy now. You may want to try identifying positions with the largest unrealized gains and map out a year-by-year approach before this window closes.
[Related: 4 Ways to Rethink Annuities in Your Clients’ Retirement Plan]
Business Tax Provisions: Year-End Actions
For business-owner clients, the OBBB Act restored several key provisions that create immediate year-end opportunities.
100% Bonus Depreciation
Permanent for qualified property acquired and placed in service after Jan 19, 2025.
A client delaying a $500,000 equipment purchase can deduct the full amount this year. That’s $185,000 in tax savings at the 37% rate.
R&D Expensing
The OBBB Act restores immediate expensing for domestic §174 research and development costs and allows catch-up deductions for previously amortized expenses.
- Small businesses (≤ ~$31M average annual gross receipts) may apply relief retroactively back to 2022–2024.
- All taxpayers can accelerate remaining domestic R&D deductions over one to two years starting in 2025.
- Foreign R&D remains amortized over 15 years.
For example, if a C-Corp has $1.8M remaining domestic R&D, immediate deduction saves ~$378,000 at 21%; savings can be higher for pass-through owners at top individual rates.
Business Interest Deduction
The law reinstates the EBITDA-based limitation (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) for Section 163(j) beginning in 2025, increasing deduction capacity for capital-intensive businesses such as real estate or manufacturing.
You may want to encourage your business owner clients to coordinate with their CPA before Thanksgiving, not the last week of December, to finalize purchases, R&D elections, and pass-through timing.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the OBBB tax law and why does it matter for financial advisors?
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed July 4, 2025, permanently extended the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) provisions, enhanced several deductions (including the temporary senior bonus deduction), and increased the estate exemption to $15 million per person permanently. It creates planning certainty and new opportunities for proactive tax management with HNW clients.
Does OBBB change the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction for high-income households?
Yes, the OBBB Act temporarily increases the SALT cap to $40,000 for taxpayers with MAGI under $500,000, phasing out to $10,000 at $600,000 MAGI (modified adjusted gross income), through 2029.
Note: The phase-out uses MAGI (not AGI) and includes tax-exempt municipal interest, which can unexpectedly push clients into the phase-out range.
Should clients switch from an LLC to an S-Corp under OBBB?
Entity structure decisions depend on multiple factors including income level, state taxes, and business operations. With permanent low rates and the permanent Qualified Business Income (QBI) deduction, the S-Corp tax rate advantages have changed for some business owners. Review the trade-offs between self-employment tax savings from S-Corp status against the simplicity and flexibility of LLC structures with your client’s CPA.
How should advisors time deductions and income before year-end?
Permanent brackets enable more sophisticated multi-year tax mapping. For clients expecting income volatility, bunching deductions in high-income years and accelerating income in low-income years remains strategic. Focus on optimizing across multiple years rather than reacting to potential rate changes.
How can advisors coordinate with a client’s CPA for OBBB planning?
Schedule joint calls or meetings before Thanksgiving to review year-end projections. Share your capital gains harvesting and Roth conversion proposals so the CPA can verify the math and flag any issues. For business owners, coordinate on pass-through income timing, entity distributions, and any year-end purchases that qualify for immediate deductions under the restored bonus depreciation rules.
What planning opportunities might sunset between 2025 and 2028?
The senior bonus deduction expires after 2028 and the enhanced SALT deduction cap after 2029. These windows create short-term opportunities, especially for senior clients with unrealized gains and taxpayers in the SALT phase-out range.
Master Year End Tax Management
With the One Big Beautiful Bill Act now in effect, advisors who can translate this complex legislation into clear, actionable planning are the ones high-net-worth clients will remember and refer.
At C2P, we equip advisors with the tools, training, and processes to deliver that level of tax-focused advice confidently and consistently. From capital gains harvesting and Roth conversions to multi-entity tax coordination, our Tax Management Journey® framework helps you turn technical knowledge into repeatable client value.
Book a complimentary 20-minute strategy call to see how you can use C2P’s proven process to identify opportunities, strengthen client relationships, and finish 2025 with measurable results. You’ll also learn if you qualify to attend our full Tax Management Journey® Training at no cost.
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For Financial Professional Use Only. This information is for educational purposes and not intended as individual investment, tax, or legal advice. Tax laws frequently change—consult with qualified professionals for current guidance.