Helping clients prep for tax season | 2025 Edition

Every fall, you hear the same (still very relevant) reminders for year-end tax planning: check withholding, plan charitable contributions, get documents in order. These timeless to-dos still matter.

But this year brings a new layer: the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). It opens the door to fresh planning opportunities and gives advisors even more ways to be invaluable as their clients prep for tax season.

Here's what to keep doing - and what to potentially tweak or emphasize this year.

✅ What advisors can do every year to support tax season success

1. Confirm estimated payments + withholding

Before year-end, confirm that your client is on track with withholding or estimated tax payments - especially if there was a one-time event like RSU vesting, a large bonus, or a job change. Just as critical: clients often forget to report their estimated payments accurately. Our team needs the exact amount and date of each payment, ideally supported by a confirmation screenshot from the IRS or state payment portal. Helping your clients gather and share this information ensures accuracy and prevents costly errors.

2. Flag all expected tax documents

Help your clients list out what tax forms they expect to receive - particularly if they changed jobs, opened new accounts, exercised stock options, or dabbled in a “fun” investing account that you don’t manage. When clients upload what they think is everything and submit their organizer, our team begins preparing the return. If additional forms show up later, it often leads to rework, confusion, and delays - or a dreaded IRS letter months after the fact. A little foresight now can save everyone time and frustration later, and ultimately lead to a smoother tax season for everyone.

3. Identify tax planning triggers

Encourage clients to share any major life or financial changes before year-end. Things like selling a home, moving states, getting married, or exercising equity compensation during the year all have tax implications. When advisors are aware of these shifts early, they become invaluable partners during tax season, ensuring everything gets communicated and captured.

4. Keep everyone on the same page

Clients win when advisors and tax professionals are in sync. If your clients work with Vivify, please let us know if you’d like access to your clients’ portals. You’ll be able to:

• Upload documents directly

• Assist in completing the tax organizer

• See where their return is in our process, in real time

• Access completed tax returns instantly

5. Get ahead on next year’s tax plan

As soon as the dust settles, it’s time to look ahead. Many clients are surprised to learn that the IRS cares not just how much tax they pay, but when it’s paid. Waiting until year-end to “settle up” can trigger underpayment penalties - especially common for clients with equity comp or fluctuating income. Encourage early reviews of withholding and estimated payments to avoid surprises in 2026. We can perform tax projections and make withholding/estimated payment recommendations for clients under an hourly consulting engagement.

🔦 New emphasis for 2025: The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA)

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) made permanent many provisions from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) that were set to expire. At the same time, it introduced new rules that make the 2025 tax year meaningfully different from what clients and advisors have grown accustomed to since 2018.

These changes open up planning opportunities - but also create the potential for confusion if clients aren’t informed. Below are three provisions that are especially relevant for many Vivify clients (though far from an exhaustive list).

1. State and Local Tax Deduction (SALT)

Since 2018, the itemized deduction for state and local taxes paid has been capped at $10,000. As a result, many advisors have stopped recommending timing strategies - like making real estate or state tax payments in December instead of January - because the deduction was maxed out either way.

But for tax years 2025 through 2029, the SALT cap increases to $40,000. This sounds straightforward, until you read the fine print: the $40,000 cap starts to phase down once modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) exceeds $500,000, dropping back to $10,000 for those above $600,000. That means blanket advice like “pay your real estate taxes in your highest income year” may no longer serve every client well. Advisors offering the most value will be those who consider year-to-year income swings and help clients think through when to time their state and local tax payments to maximize tax savings.

2. Charitable contributions for non-itemizers

With the rise of the standard deduction under TCJA, many clients stopped tracking charitable donations - assuming their giving wasn’t enough to generate a tax benefit. The only recent exception was the temporary above-the-line deduction allowed under the CARES Act in 2020 and 2021.

Starting in tax year 2026, OBBBA introduces a new permanent deduction: $1,000 ($2,000 if married filing jointly) for cash charitable donations - even for those who don’t itemize. Advisors can help clients get back in the habit of saving all donation receipts and understanding that smaller contributions now matter again.

3. Charitable contributions for itemizers

There’s a twist here, too: beginning in tax year 2026, clients who itemize can only deduct charitable contributions if the total contributions exceed 0.5% of their adjusted gross income (AGI). For example, a client who itemizes and with $500,000 of AGI would need to donate more than $2,500 to receive any charitable deduction.

This new floor means itemizing clients won’t automatically benefit from small or moderate donations - and may need your help recalibrating expectations.

💬 How you can help

Whether your client is working with Vivify or another tax pro, you play a key role in making tax season less reactive and more strategic.

If they’re working with Vivify, let us know what you’re seeing and planning with clients - and share it before tax season. We’ll make sure nothing gets lost in translation.

If they’re not with Vivify, we built The Right Accountant to make sure every one of your clients has access to a tax preparer who fits their needs. Use it. Share it. Bookmark it.