Category: Changes and Deadlines

A temporary federal deduction gives qualifying married couples age 65 or older up to $12,000 beyond their other deductions. The provision is unusual because eligible taxpayers can claim it whether they use the standard deduction or itemize, making the benefit relevant to homeowners, donors and retirees with large medical deductions. Each eligible spouse contributes $6,000…

The federal itemized deduction for state and local taxes has a $40,400 overall ceiling for most 2026 returns. Once modified adjusted gross income exceeds $505,000, that ceiling begins to fall, although it cannot drop below $10,000; married taxpayers filing separately use half-sized figures. Free retirement updates: Want plain-English help keeping more of your money in…

Income limits can block a direct Roth IRA contribution. They do not block a conversion from a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA. Once a conversion is completed, current law does not allow it to be recharacterized back to a traditional IRA. That makes the tax estimate and timing decision consequential. Free retirement updates: Want…

The 2026 tax rules allow a person over 70 to treat up to $6,200 of qualified long-term-care insurance premiums as a medical expense; that is an age-based ceiling, not an automatic $6,200 deduction. Itemizing and the broader medical-expense threshold still determine whether the premiums reduce taxable income. Free retirement updates: Want plain-English help keeping more…

A qualified charitable distribution can move IRA money directly to an eligible charity without including the otherwise taxable amount in gross income. For 2026, the annual exclusion ceiling is $111,000 for an IRA owner who is at least 70½ when the transfer occurs. The direct-transfer rule is essential. Charity eligibility is a separate gate. Free…

A qualifying health savings account owner who is at least 55 can reach a $5,400 self-only contribution limit in 2026. That total combines the ordinary $4,400 self-only ceiling with a $1,000 catch-up contribution. Age alone is not enough: HSA eligibility and Medicare enrollment still control whether contributions are permitted. Free retirement updates: Want plain-English help…

Older taxpayers who use the standard deduction can still receive a separate federal deduction for qualifying cash gifts made in 2026. The ceiling is $1,000 on most returns and $2,000 for married couples filing jointly, but records and charity eligibility determine whether a gift counts. The rule is available to nonitemizers generally, not only to…

A state disaster declaration can now be enough to bring a personal casualty loss within the federal deduction framework for tax year 2026. The expansion removes the prior federal-declaration-only boundary, but it does not make every storm, fire or theft loss automatically deductible: homeowners still must document the event, calculate the allowed loss, subtract insurance…

Many retirees are surprised to learn that a portion of their Social Security benefits can be subject to federal income tax, and that a surprise tax bill at filing time is avoidable. A single form lets a beneficiary have taxes withheld directly from their monthly benefit, spreading the tax over the year and preventing an…

The U.S. tax system runs on pay-as-you-go, meaning taxes are due as income is earned throughout the year, not just at filing time. For workers, employers handle this through paycheck withholding. Retirees whose income comes from investments, distributions, or other sources without automatic withholding can be caught off guard, because they may be responsible for…