Ask the Editor, March 20: Questions on Tax Changes for 2026
Summarize this article with:
In this week's Ask the Editor Q&A, Joy Taylor answers five questions on changes to charitable deductions and other tax breaks that first take effect in 2026. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. Profit and prosper with the best of Kiplinger's advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and much more. Delivered daily. Enter your email in the box and click Sign Me Up.You are now subscribedYour newsletter sign-up was successfulWant to add more newsletters?Delivered dailyKiplinger TodayProfit and prosper with the best of Kiplinger's advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and much more delivered daily. Smart money moves start here.Sent five days a weekKiplinger A Step AheadGet practical help to make better financial decisions in your everyday life, from spending to savings on top deals.Delivered dailyKiplinger Closing BellGet today's biggest financial and investing headlines delivered to your inbox every day the U.S. stock market is open.Sent twice a weekKiplinger Adviser IntelFinancial pros across the country share best practices and fresh tactics to preserve and grow your wealth.Delivered weeklyKiplinger Tax TipsTrim your federal and state tax bills with practical tax-planning and tax-cutting strategies.Sent twice a weekKiplinger Retirement TipsYour twice-a-week guide to planning and enjoying a financially secure and richly rewarding retirementSent bimonthly.Kiplinger Adviser AngleInsights for advisers, wealth managers and other financial professionals.Sent twice a weekKiplinger Investing WeeklyYour twice-a-week roundup of promising stocks, funds, companies and industries you should consider, ones you should avoid, and why.Sent weekly for six weeksKiplinger Invest for RetirementYour step-by-step six-part series on how to invest for retirement, from devising a successful strategy to exactly which investments to choose.Each week in our Ask the Editor series, Joy Taylor, The Kiplinger Tax Letter editor, answers questions on topics submitted by readers. This week she's looking at five questions on changes to charitable deductions and other tax breaks that first take effect in 2026. (Get a free issue of The Kiplinger Tax Letter or subscribe.)Question: I generally claim the standard deduction when I file my Form 1040. I heard that next year I can deduct my charitable gifts even if I don't itemize on Schedule A. Is this true?Joy Taylor: Yes, but there is a limit. Last July's "One Big Beautiful Bill" (OBBB) lets nonitemizers deduct up to $1,000 of charitable cash gifts, beginning with 2026 returns filed in 2027. The amount is $2,000 for joint filers.Become a smarter, better informed investor. Subscribe from just $107.88 $24.99, plus get up to 4 Special IssuesProfit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.Question: I make lots of charitable gifts during the year, and I usually itemize on Schedule A. Did the OBBB make any changes to the charitable deduction for itemizers?Joy Taylor: Yes. Starting with 2026 returns filed next year, charitable deductions claimed by itemizers on Schedule A get a bit of a haircut. The Schedule A charitable write-off is deductible only to the extent that total charitable donations exceed 0.5% of adjusted gross income (AGI). This is similar to the rules for deducting medical expenses, in which total eligible medical costs are deductible only to the extent they exceed 7.5% of AGI.Here's an example. Say your 2026 AGI is $232,000, and you donate $14,000 to charity in 2026. If you itemize, you can deduct $12,840 of charitable contributions on your 2026 tax return ($14,000-($232,000 x 0.005)).Question: Can excess charitable donations caught by the 0.5% haircut be carried forward to the succeeding year?Joy Taylor: Generally, no. Take the example from Q&A 2, where you have a person with 2026 AGI of $232,000 and $14,000 in charitable contributions. The filer can deduct $12,840 of charitable contributions on his 2026 tax return. The excess $1,160 of donations generally cannot be carried forward to 2027 and is permanently lost.There is one exception. If a taxpayer has charitable-contribution carryforwards for the year, for example, because total cash donations exceed 60% of AGI, then the amount disallowed because of the 0.5%-of-AGI floor will increase the carryforward. But if the taxpayer has no current-year carryforwards, then the amount nixed because of the 0.5% rule is permanently lost.Question: My spouse and I have lots of income that we pay tax on each year, at the highest federal income tax rate. We always itemize on Schedule A. Are there any other changes to itemized deductions beginning in 2026, aside from the change to charitable contributions?Joy Taylor: Yes. Beginning with 2026 returns filed in 2027, upper-income taxpayers will see their total itemized deductions reduced. Total itemized deductions will be decreased by 2/37 of the lesser of the amount of itemized deductions or the taxable income that exceeds the 37% federal income tax rate bracket amount. Some tax professionals describe this rule as effectively limiting the tax benefit of itemized deductions to 35%.Question: Other than itemized deductions, did the OBBB enact any other big changes for individual filers that begin in 2026?Answer: Yes. There are several OBBB tax changes that first take effect in 2026, meaning on 2026 tax returns that you file in 2027. Here are some of them:Subscribers of The Kiplinger Tax Letter, The Kiplinger Letter and The Kiplinger Retirement Report can ask Joy questions about tax topics. You'll find full details of how to submit questions in each publication. Subscribe to The Kiplinger Tax Letter, The Kiplinger Letter or The Kiplinger Retirement Report.We have already received many questions from readers on topics related to tax changes in the One Big Beautiful Bill, retirement accounts and more. We will continue to answer these in future Ask the Editor roundups. So keep those questions coming!Not all questions submitted will be published, and some may be condensed and/or combined with other similar questions and answers, as required editorially. The answers provided by our editors and experts, in this Q&A series, are for general informational purposes only. While we take reasonable precautions to ensure we provide accurate answers to your questions, this information does not and is not intended to, constitute independent financial, legal, or tax advice. You should not act, or refrain from acting, based on any information provided in this feature. You should consult with a financial or tax advisor regarding any questions you may have in relation to the matters discussed in this article. Profit and prosper with the best of Kiplinger's advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and much more. Delivered daily. Enter your email in the box and click Sign Me Up.Joy is an experienced CPA and tax attorney with an L.L.M. in Taxation from New York University School of Law. After many years working for big law and accounting firms, Joy saw the light and now puts her education, legal experience and in-depth knowledge of federal tax law to use writing for Kiplinger. She writes and edits The Kiplinger Tax Letter and contributes federal tax and retirement stories to kiplinger.com and Kiplinger’s Retirement Report. Her articles have been picked up by the Washington Post and other media outlets. Joy has also appeared as a tax expert in newspapers, on television and on radio discussing federal tax developments.