Don’t Leave Money on the Table: Your Year-End Tax Strategy Checklist 

As Q4 begins, the countdown to December 31st is officially on. For savvy business owners and proactive individuals, these final weeks aren’t just about closing out the year—they’re the last chance to significantly impact your 2025 tax bill.

At Hylen CPA, we know every dollar you save through strategic planning is a dollar that stays in your pocket or is reinvested in your business. With the recent passing of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), the rules for tax savings have changed in ways that require immediate action.

Don’t wait until January—waiting is too late for many of the most powerful moves. Here is our essential checklist of tax deductions and planning strategies you should act on before year-end..

1. Critical Moves for Your Business’s Bottom Line

Your business has the largest and most time-sensitive opportunities for year-end tax savings. This year, the focus is heavily on capital investment, thanks to the OBBBA.

The Return of 100% Depreciation: Invest Now

If you’ve been putting off buying new equipment, vehicles, or software, stop waiting.

• 100% Bonus Depreciation is BACK! The OBBBA reinstated 100% Bonus Depreciation for qualified business assets acquired and placed in service after January 19, 2025. This is a massive incentive to buy this quarter. Remember, the asset must be ready for use by December 31st to count for your 2025 taxes.
• Maximize Section 179 Expensing: Complementing Bonus Depreciation, the deduction limit for Section 179 expensing remains high (indexed for inflation), making it a permanent and powerful tool for immediately writing off equipment purchases.

Lock in Your Pass-Through Profits

For clients operating as Passthrough Entities (S-Corps or LLC Partnerships), the news is good for long-term planning.

• QBI is Permanent: The OBBBA made the Qualified Business Income (QBI) Deduction (§199A) a permanent 20% deduction. This removes the uncertainty of its former expiration date and provides rock-solid predictability for managing your income.

Accelerate Expenses and Defer Income

The classic year-end playbook is still crucial:

• Accelerate Deductions: Pre-pay next quarter’s rent, insurance, or subscription software fees. Settle vendor invoices before the end of the year.
• Defer Income: If you use the cash method of accounting, delay invoicing clients until late December so that payment is received in early January. This pushes the income—and the tax liability—into the next year.

2. Smart Strategies for Individuals & Families

The OBBBA introduced new deductions and clarified itemized deductions, making a Q4 review essential for your personal financial health.

New Temporary Deductions You Might Qualify For

The recent tax law introduced several new temporary breaks to discuss:

• The Senior Deduction: If you or your spouse are age 65 or older, a new, additional standard deduction of $6,000 per qualifying taxpayer is available for 2025 (subject to income phase-outs). We will calculate your eligibility during your review.
• Tips and Overtime: New temporary deductions for qualified tip income (up to $25,000) and qualified overtime pay (up to $12,500 for single filers) are available for 2025. If you work in an industry with significant tips or overtime, we need to ensure this income is tracked correctly to maximize the benefit.

Strategic Charitable Giving: An Immediate Deadline

For charitably inclined clients, especially high-income earners, 2025 is the year to front-load donations.

• The New Charitable Floor: Beginning in 2026, the OBBBA adds a floor to the charitable deduction, meaning a large charitable gift may be more tax-advantageous if completed in 2025 than if it were deferred to the following year. Complete all cash and appreciated stock gifts by December 31st.
• Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs): If you are age 73 or older, ensure you take your RMDs by December 31st. A Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) from your IRA is an excellent tax-free way to satisfy that RMD while giving back.

The New SALT Cap Relief and Itemizing

The long-standing $10,000 cap on the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction has been adjusted:

• SALT Cap Relief (Temporary): The OBBBA raised the SALT deduction cap to $40,000 for most taxpayers through 2029. If itemizing now benefits you, consider pre-paying your Q4 state estimated income tax or property taxes before December 31st. However, this deduction is subject to complex income phase-outs, so a personalized review is required to ensure you don’t exceed the income thresholds.

3. Mandatory Review for Complex Estates: The Year-End Review

For high-net-worth clients, the single most critical tax planning deadline is rapidly approaching.

Time is Running Out: Schedule Your Q4 Tax Planning

Don’t let valuable deductions slip away because you ran out of time.

Proactive tax planning saves you more money than reactive tax filing.

If you are ready to stop leaving money on the table, the time to act is now. Contact Hylen CPA today to schedule your comprehensive year-end tax planning review and ensure you have a customized strategy in place before the December 31st deadline.