Year-End OBBB Tax Planning Checklist for Advisors
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
The final quarter of 2025 presents some of the most compelling tax planning opportunities we’ve seen in over a decade, especially for high-net-worth (HNW) clients.
Why OBBB Changes Year-End Planning for HNW Retirees
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.
Let’s explore some of the more time-sensitive year-end tax strategies for your HNW clients under the new tax laws in 2025:
1. The 0% LTCG Window: Capital Gains Harvesting
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).
Let’s say you advise a married couple, both age 68:
- Social Security: $34,000
- Pension: $30,000
- Total income: $64,000
After deductions and Social Security taxes, their taxable ordinary income is roughly $12,200.
With the 0% LTCG bracket extending to $96,700, they can realize $84,500 in LTCG at 0% federal tax. (Calculation: $96,700 – $12,200 = $84,500)
This is a powerful opportunity for you to strengthen long-term tax outcomes:
- Reset basis
- Reduce future capital gains tax exposure
- Diversify concentrated positions
- Build a pool of after-tax assets that can support future income needs
It also sets up a multiyear Roth conversion runway. That becomes even more valuable when you use after-tax assets to manage taxable income in subsequent years.
[Related: 4 Types of Roth Conversion Strategies to Manage Taxes]
2. The Temporary Senior Deduction and Its 2028 Expiration
The temporary senior deduction, $6,000 per person age 65+, up to $12,000, is available from 2025 through 2028.
It meaningfully expands capacity for:
- 0% capital gains harvesting
- Strategic Roth conversion planning
- Income smoothing
- MAGI management
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.
This deduction is “use it or lose it,” creating a powerful four-year planning runway.
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]
3. Estate Planning: The $15M Permanent Exemption
The permanent $15 million per-person estate exemption dramatically changes gifting strategy.
Key considerations:
- The trade-off is now estate tax savings vs. loss of step-up in basis
- Holding appreciated assets until death may deliver better outcomes for many families
- Trusts remain crucial for:
- Asset protection
- Multigenerational wealth strategy
- Governance and control
OBBB removes the urgency of the pre-2026 sunset, allowing you to be more deliberate and strategic.
[Related: Tax Planning Strategies To Help You Serve Women Clients]
4. Key OBBB Business Tax Provisions
For business-owner clients, the OBBB Act restored several key provisions that create immediate year-end opportunities.
These three factors should be on your radar:
100% Bonus Depreciation
The bonus depreciation is permanent for qualified property acquired and placed in service after Jan 19, 2025.
For example: 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.
These are the crucial provisions:
- 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.
Alongside QBI and pass-through entity tax (PTET) strategies, these provisions are some of the most dynamic year-end deductions available.
How Advisors Can 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 Your Strategy Call With C2P
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.
FAQs: Year-End Tax Planning for OBBB
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 expire in the next few years?
The senior bonus deduction expires after 2028, and the enhanced SALT deduction expires after 2029. These create time-sensitive opportunities, especially for senior clients with unrealized gains and high-income taxpayers in the SALT phaseout range.
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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.