Strategic Tax Planning Under the Big Beautiful Bill

November 18, 2025

The new Big Beautiful Bill reshapes how affluent individuals and business owners approach income, deductions, and wealth planning. Here’s how to turn its complexity into an opportunity. 

As 2025 approaches, the Big Beautiful Bill (BBB) introduces sweeping tax changes that affect nearly every aspect of personal and business financial planning. For high-income earners and entrepreneurs, understanding these provisions—and acting before year-end—can unlock powerful opportunities for tax savings, legacy building, and long-term wealth preservation. 

Individual Tax Planning: Timing and Structure Matter 

The BBB permanently maintains the 2017 individual tax brackets, keeping the top marginal rate at 37%. On the surface, this looks like “no change,” but in practice it reshapes how taxpayers manage income and deductions. 

Business owners, executives, and investors can achieve significant savings through strategic income timing, deferring bonuses or capital gains, shifting income to lower-bracket family members, or distributing assets through non-grantor trusts. Similarly, aligning IRA withdrawals or investment sales with charitable giving strategies can minimize exposure to higher brackets while advancing philanthropic goals. 

Maximizing the Standard Deduction and Charitable Giving 

For 2025, the increased standard deduction, $15,750 for individuals and $31,500 for joint filers, is here to stay. While many taxpayers will take the standard deduction, high-net-worth families should assess whether itemizing could deliver greater value. 

Charitable “bunching” strategies—consolidating multiple years of donations into one—can push deductions above the standard threshold. Donor-advised funds (DAFs) allow families to receive the immediate deduction while distributing gifts to charities over time, combining flexibility with impact. 

Targeted Deductions and State Tax Planning 

The BBB extends or introduces several key deductions worth exploring: 

• Vehicle loan interest: Deductible up to $10,000 annually through 2028. 
• Home mortgage interest: Deductible on acquisition debt up to $750,000. 
• State and local taxes (SALT): Temporarily increased cap of $40,000, with phaseouts for high earners. 

For those living in high-tax states, establishing a Pass-Through Entity Tax (PTET) structure can help bypass SALT caps and preserve more income. Timing vehicle purchases, refinancing, and property tax payments can further enhance deductions. 

Senior and Family Benefits 

The BBB introduces targeted relief measures, including: 

• A $6,000 senior deduction (through 2028), phasing out for incomes above $75,000 single/$150,000 joint. 
• A $2,200 child tax credit per qualifying child. 
• Expanded adoption and dependent care credits, and enhanced employer-provided childcare exclusions. 

These provisions reinforce the importance of coordinating income, retirement withdrawals, and family expenses to capture maximum benefits each year. 

Education and Savings Enhancements 

Several tax-advantaged accounts have been expanded or newly introduced to promote education and long-term wealth transfer: 

• 529 Plans now cover K–12 and credentialing programs, offering broader educational flexibility. 
• ABLE Accounts retain generous limits and now allow 529 rollovers to support individuals with disabilities. 
• Trump Accounts, new for 2025, enable parents to save tax-efficiently for education, first-home purchases, or small-business investments plus a $1,000 incentive credit for early establishment. 

For families focused on multigenerational planning, front-loading contributions and coordinating accounts across family members can maximize tax-free growth and flexibility. 

Business Owners: Unlocking Tax-Efficient Growth 

For entrepreneurs, the BBB provides significant opportunities to enhance cash flow and accelerate deductions: 

• Bonus Depreciation and Section 179 Expensing are made permanent, allowing immediate deductions for qualifying assets such as machinery, technology, and improvements. 
• Qualified Opportunity Zones (QOZs) offer permanent deferral and potential elimination of capital gains taxes for long-term investments in designated communities. 
• Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS) exclusions expand to $15 million per taxpayer, rewarding early-stage investors with potential 100% tax-free gains after five years. 

Each of these provisions offers powerful incentives to align business reinvestment with long-term tax and estate goals. 

Coordinating for Maximum Impact 

The BBB’s complexity underscores the need for proactive coordination between tax, financial, and estate advisors. A strategic plan should integrate: 

• Income and deduction timing across multiple entities and family members. 
• Charitable and legacy planning to capture both deductions and estate efficiencies. 
• Business reinvestment decisions aligned with depreciation, QOZ, or QSBS opportunities. 
• Annual year-end reviews to lock in temporary or phase-out benefits before December 31. 

Turning Complexity into Opportunity 

The Big Beautiful Bill introduces both challenges and possibilities. For affluent families and business leaders, success will depend on planning early, coordinating across disciplines, and viewing tax strategy not as a once-a-year exercise—but as an integral part of building, protecting, and transferring wealth. 

By acting decisively and leveraging expert guidance, you can transform the BBB’s complexity into a roadmap for tax-efficient growth and multigenerational prosperity. 

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Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal or tax advice. Please consult your tax or legal advisor for guidance specific to your situation.