Personal Tax Planning

Tax preparation is the process of filing your return after the year ends. Tax planning is the process of making decisions during the year to influence what that return will look like. Preparation reports results. Planning shapes them. Ideally, by the time we sit down to prepare your return, there should be no surprises because we have already planned for everything.

Today is always better than tomorrow. Even a mid-year review can uncover opportunities you would otherwise miss. Many of the most effective strategies require action before December 31, such as making retirement contributions, harvesting capital losses, timing charitable gifts, or adjusting your withholding. 

Yes. The OBBBA permanently extended and increased the child tax credit to $2,200 per qualifying child for 2026, with a refundable portion of $1,700. The credit is adjusted for inflation going forward. Your child must have a Social Security number, be under age 17 at the end of the tax year, and meet certain residency and support requirements. The credit begins to phase out at $200,000 of modified adjusted gross income for single filers and $400,000 for joint filers.

Yes, but with limits. The SALT (state and local tax) deduction is capped at $40,400 for 2026 ($20,200 for married filing separately). This includes state income taxes, local earned income taxes, and property taxes combined. The cap phases down for taxpayers with modified adjusted gross income above $505,000, and reverts to $10,000 in 2030. If you are a business owner, a pass-through entity tax (PTET) election may allow you to deduct state taxes at the entity level, bypassing the individual cap. We evaluate whether this strategy applies to your situation.

The OBBBA made several expansions effective in 2026. The annual K-12 withdrawal cap doubled from $10,000 to $20,000 per beneficiary, and qualified expenses now include tutoring, test prep, curriculum materials, and educational therapy in addition to tuition. At the college level, 529 funds can now cover credential and trade programs. You can also roll unused 529 balances into a Roth IRA for the beneficiary, up to $35,000 lifetime, if the account has been open for at least 15 years. Not all states conform to these federal changes, so we check how Pennsylvania treats your specific distributions.

At the federal level, the estate tax exemption is now $15 million per person under the OBBBA, so most estates are not affected. However, Pennsylvania has its own inheritance tax with no exemption threshold. Assets passing to children or grandchildren are taxed at 4.5%, assets to siblings at 12%, and assets to most other beneficiaries at 15%. Transfers to a surviving spouse are exempt. We help you plan beneficiary designations, gifting, and account structures to minimize exposure.