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The 2026 tax season is barely in the rearview mirror, but for advisors and their clients, this is when the real work begins.
Right after filing, everything is still fresh. Clients remember what surprised them, what felt off, and where they may have missed opportunities. That awareness doesn’t last long. Give it a few months and most people move on, which makes it harder to connect decisions with outcomes. For advisors, this is the moment to step in and turn that clarity into a plan.
That matters even more this year. With the first full filing season under OBBA behind us, many clients are seeing meaningful changes in their returns. Some clients are benefiting from higher deductions, particularly around state and local taxes. Others are running into income-based limitations or seeing complexity creep back in after years of relative simplicity under the TCJA. In some cases, we’re even seeing the return of AMT for clients who haven’t had to think about it in years.
Start Now With the Return
The starting point is simple, even if it’s often overlooked: Sit down and review the tax return. Not just the headline numbers, but what drove them.
Where did the client benefit? Where did they phase out of something they expected to get? What changed from last year? That conversation usually surfaces a few clear levers you can pull going forward.
Turn Filing Into a Strategy Session
Once you understand what happened, the next step is deciding what to do about it.
Take the state and local tax deduction, for example. With the potential to reach $40,000 when income is under $500,000 — but phasing out to $10,000 when income is $600,000 — the difference between being intentional and being passive can be meaningful.
Managing income thresholds can yield significant tax savings — whether that is timing deductions, making retirement plan contributions, opening a self-employed retirement plan, or keeping better documentation. These aren’t complicated moves, but they do require attention before year-end.
The same dynamic shows up across other provisions tied to OBBA, such as the enhanced senior deduction, new charitable deduction, or tips and overtime deductions. There are real opportunities, but many of them come with guardrails. Miss the income thresholds or wait too long to act, and the benefit shrinks or disappears altogether.
Don’t Wait Until December To Make December Decisions
Too often, tax planning gets pushed to the end of the year. That’s when it turns into a scramble, particularly where small business owners are involved.
OBBA has been very generous to business owners, providing so many opportunities in connection with depreciation, expensing, Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS) capital gain exclusions, and the Qualified Business Income (QBI) Deduction. Every financial advisor should conduct an audit of their book to identify all small business clients who could benefit from OBBA and perform some outreach.
By December, most of the meaningful levers have already been pulled. Income is largely set. Options are limited, decisions get rushed, and the outcome is often just “good enough” instead of optimized. This is a big mistake, particularly for business owners where it could cost millions of dollars in unnecessary taxes.
The more effective approach is to start early. Be creative and leverage the available opportunities. Adjust income where you can. Be intentional about expenses. None of that works well as a last-minute exercise.
Tax Planning as a Differentiator
At its core, tax planning isn’t a season, it’s a discipline. Tax planning works best when it’s part of the ongoing conversation, not just a yearly or semi-annual check in.
And for financial advisors, this is where real value is created. Moving beyond compliance and into continuous planning not only improves outcomes, it strengthens relationships.
Clients aren’t just looking for someone to file their taxes, they’re looking for guidance, foresight, and a clear strategy that evolves alongside their financial lives.
The opportunity is right in front of us. The return has been filed. The results are here. The lessons are still fresh.
Now is the time to use them.
Debra Taylor is the chief tax strategist for Carson Group.
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Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.
