Some are new. Some have been around for years. Most require year-round coordination to maximize the benefit.
By Corey Vertich, Uhler Vertich White Advisors
Imagine a scenario where someone looks at their tax return and is stunned to see their federal tax bill drop from roughly $15,000 the prior year all the way down to zero. They immediately wonder whether the numbers could possibly be right—maybe a calculation error, a misplaced form, or something overlooked.
In this hypothetical case, though, everything was done correctly: every credit, deduction, and provision was properly applied, and the dramatic swing from $15,000 owed to $0 wasn’t the result of a mistake.
This is one of the most rewarding parts of my job, when careful planning (like optimizing when and how you take income), translates into the real-world.
Before I walk you through what made that possible, let me be clear about something: none of this should feel like homework.
If you’re like most of our clients, you don’t want to pay more in taxes than necessary — but you also don’t want to spend your time tracking every legislative change or trying to figure out what applies to your situation.
Your role is to live your life and let us know when something changes. Our role is to review tax law changes, run the analyses, coordinate with your CPA, and bring ideas to you when they may make sense for your specific financial picture and long-term financial goals.
I’m sharing these seven strategies not as action items for you to implement, but to give you context for the tax decisions we consider year-round, and how those might impact your financial plan in 2026.
Tax Season 2026: Meet the 7 Deductions, Opportunities, and Strategies You May Have Heard Of
1. Car Loan Interest
If you bought a vehicle assembled in the United States after December 31, 2024, you can now deduct up to $10,000 of the interest on your auto loan (on top of your standard deduction).
The catch is figuring out whether your specific vehicle qualifies as “assembled in the United States.” It’s not always obvious; some foreign brands are manufactured here, while some domestic brands are assembled elsewhere.
2. Charitable Deduction Without Itemizing
The standard deduction for married couples filing jointly in 2026 is higher than previous years (about $30,000), which means most people take it rather than itemizing. While that can simplify your tax filing, it also means your charitable contributions don’t provide any direct tax benefit unless you’re giving through Qualified Charitable Distributions from your IRA.
Starting with the 2026 tax year (what you’ll file in early 2027), that changes. You’ll be able to give $1,000 as an individual or $2,000 as a married couple and get a tax deduction for it, even if you’re taking the standard deduction.
If you’re already giving to local churches, schools, or community organizations here that are close to you, this creates a way to give meaningfully while seeing some tax benefit from it. We can help with reviewing how these fits with your Qualified Charitable Distributions from your IRA, your donor-advised fund contributions, and the timing of other charitable gifts to help maximize both your impact and your tax efficiency.
3. Sales Tax Deductions
If you made any significant purchases in 2025 (a vehicle, boat, RV, major appliances, or substantial home renovations), there may be an opportunity around sales tax deductions when you file in 2026.
Florida doesn’t have a state income tax, so we rely on sales tax deductions instead. The IRS gives you a standard number based on your income, but it’s usually conservative. If you can document your larger purchases throughout the year and itemize, you might be entitled to a higher deduction.
The documentation requirements make this impractical for some situations, but if you’ve made major purchases this year, we’ll work with your CPA to help determine if itemizing saves you money. And if it does, we’ll help organize the documentation you need.
4. Deduction Bunching
Say you give $10,000 to charity every year and pay $8,000 in property taxes. That’s $18,000 in potential itemized deductions, which sounds meaningful until you realize the standard deduction for a married couple is close to $30,000. You’re not even close to itemizing.
This is a hypothetical illustration and is not intended to reflect any actual outcome.
But what if you concentrated, or “bunched,” those deductions?
Deduction bunching is a strategy where you concentrate multiple years’ worth of deductible expenses into a single tax year, allowing you to itemize in that year while taking the standard deduction in others. Here’s how it works in practice:
Property taxes in Florida can be paid anytime between October and March. So, you could potentially pay your 2025 property taxes in March of 2026 and then pay your 2026 property taxes in October of 2026. Now you’ve got two years of property taxes in one calendar year ($16,000 instead of $8,000), making 2026 the year where itemizing your deductions may make more sense than taking the standard deduction.
Add to that a donor-advised fund, where you contribute $50,000 in one year to cover the next five years of charitable giving. Suddenly, in that one year, you’ve got $66,000 in itemized deductions — well above the standard deduction.
Bunching may be ideal for those with predictable charitable giving and flexible timing on major expenses. That’s why we model multiple scenarios with tax projection software and coordinate with your CPA before recommending this approach.
5. 0% Capital Gains
If your ordinary income (things like Social Security, IRA distributions, interest) fills only the 10% and 12% tax brackets, any long-term capital gains that fit in that same range are taxed at 0%.
Not a lower rate. Zero.
This isn’t new for 2026, we believe it is one of the most underutilized strategies I see year after year. What makes this strategy nuanced is that each income source influences how the others are taxed. If we take too much from your IRA, it might push your capital gains into a taxable range. Or it might make your Social Security taxable when it otherwise wouldn’t be. Or both.
We help review the interplay between your different income sources to identify opportunities for capital gains at that 0% rate. This requires precision in balancing IRA withdrawals, capital gains, and Social Security income down to the dollar, but the impact can be significant.
6. Transferring Overfunded 529 Plans
This one’s specific, but if you have a 529 plan that’s been sitting around for 15 years or more and isn’t being fully used, there’s a relatively new option worth knowing about.
You can transfer up to $35,000 of it into a Roth IRA over time (about $7,000 or $8,000 a year, depending on age). One of the requirements is the beneficiary needs to have earned income and qualify for Roth contributions.
The part most people miss: you can transfer/share funds among multiple beneficiaries that are qualified family members.
If you have three children or grandchildren, you can create three separate $35,000 transfer opportunities—turning a single overfunded 529 into $105,000 of Roth IRA assets across your family. Or you can name yourself as beneficiary and transfer it for your own Roth.
Related: Financial Considerations for Your Grandchildren
Certain changes in beneficiary may result in a taxable event. 529 plans come with fees and expenses, and there is a risk they may lose money or underperform. Most states offer their own 529 programs, which may provide benefits exclusively for their residents. Please consider whether the state plan offers any tax or other benefits. Tax implications can vary significantly from state to state.
7. RMD Delay for IRA to Roth IRA Conversions
One of the more significant changes from the SECURE Act 2.0 is that required minimum distributions (RMDs) now begin at age 73 for those born between 1951 and 1959, and age 75 for those born in 1960 or later. That delay gives you additional years before you’re forced to start pulling money out of traditional retirement accounts.
Why does that matter for 2026 specifically?
Because if you’re in your early-to-mid 70s and RMDs haven’t started yet, you may want to consider IRA to Roth IRA conversions while you’re still in a lower tax bracket. Once RMDs kick in, they could push you into higher brackets and make conversions less attractive.
The analysis here may get complex quickly. A Roth conversion might sound simple: move money from a traditional IRA to a Roth and pay tax at your current rate. But depending on your situation, that conversion could make your Social Security benefits taxable, trigger capital gains you could have avoided, or push you into a higher Medicare premium bracket.
This is why we use tax projection software and work closely with your CPA before we recommend anything major. We’re modeling different scenarios to see what the impact may be, not just making assumptions.
Key Takeaways:
- Do I need to do anything differently in the 2026 tax season? It is worth coordinating with your CPA when something makes sense to act on.
- What’s deduction bunching? Timing major expenses like property taxes and charitable giving to fall in the same year, so you can itemize deductions every other year instead of taking the standard deduction.
- Can I really pay 0% on capital gains? Potentially, if your ordinary income stays in the lower tax brackets. It requires careful planning.
Coordinating All of This Together
We believe the most important takeaway is that you don’t need to remember which rules apply in which year or worry about how one decision affects five others, because we can help coordinate it for you.
That coordination may matter more than any single strategy. A charitable deduction, a Roth conversion, or a capital gain can ripple into other areas in ways that aren’t obvious until we run the numbers.
This is what separates good financial planning from great financial planning: Helping to ensure your financial plan preserves what you’ve built and moves you closer to the future you’ve been working toward.
If you ever have questions about how these strategies apply to your situation, or if something changes in your life that might affect your tax picture, let us know. Helping you navigate these decisions without it overwhelming you is what we’re here for.
Not yet working with UVW? Wondering what this level of coordination could do for your family?
Let’s talk about how our Financial Planning approach to wealth planning could help your money better support your life.
Schedule a conversation about aligning your money with what matters most.
The information contained in this newsletter does not purport to be a complete description of the securities, markets, or developments referred to in this material. The information has been obtained from sources considered to be reliable, but we do not guarantee that the foregoing material is accurate or complete. Any opinions are those of the author and not necessarily those of Raymond James. Expressions of opinion are as of this date and are subject to change without notice. There is no guarantee that these statements, opinions or forecasts provided herein will prove to be correct. Investing involves risk and you may incur a profit or loss regardless of strategy selected, including diversification and asset allocation.
Changes in tax laws or regulations may occur at any time and could substantially impact your situation. While we are familiar with the tax provisions of the issues presented herein, as Financial Advisors we are not qualified to render advice on tax or legal matters. Raymond James and its advisors do not offer tax or legal advice. You should discuss any tax or legal matters with the appropriate professional.
Unless certain criteria are met, Roth IRA owners must be 59½ or older and have held the IRA for five years before tax-free withdrawals are permitted. Additionally, each converted amount may be subject to its own five-year holding period. Converting a traditional IRA into a Roth IRA has tax implications. Investors should consult a tax advisor before deciding to do a conversion.
Investors should consult a tax advisor before deciding to do a conversion. Donors are urged to consult their attorneys, accountants or tax advisors with respect to questions relating to the deductibility of various types of contributions to a Donor-Advised Fund for federal and state tax purposes.