The Oklahoma Bar Journal May 2026

T axation

The Big, Beautiful Bill and the American Taxpayer: The Tax Changes Americans Need To Know By Shiny Mathew T HE ONE, BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL ACT WAS SIGNED INTO LAW ON JULY 4, 2025, and it is a large sweeping rewrite of major portions of the tax code. This piece of legis lation made more than 100 changes to the tax code, with some applying retroactively to the beginning of 2025. It is legislation that significantly affects federal taxes, credits and deduc tions. For ordinary Americans, this law affects paychecks, retirement planning, vehicle financing, health care decisions, charitable giving and what appears on your 2025 tax return and later tax returns. The IRS has also announced phased implementation in several areas, including transition relief for employers and payors dealing with tip and overtime reporting.

2025 through 2028. For married cou ples, where both spouses qualify, that can mean an additional $12,000 deduction, although the benefit phases out above $75,000 of modi fied adjusted gross income for sin gle taxpayers and $150,000 for joint filers. For retirees, near-retirees and advisers, this provision could affect timing decisions on retirement distributions, Roth conversions and recognition of capital gains. NEW DEDUCTION FOR QUALIFIED TIPS The new worker provisions deserve extra attention because

conversations will continue to revolve around whether clients are itemizers or standard deduction filers, how much room they have in a given bracket and whether gifting, estate or Roth conversion strategies should be revisited under the new thresholds.

INCREASED STANDARD DEDUCTION One of the most important effects of the law is that it locks in and updates tax rules that shape nearly every return. The standard deduction rises to $31,500 for married couples filing jointly and $15,750 for single filers for tax year 2025 and to $32,200 and $16,100, respectively, for 2026. The law also preserves the marginal rate struc ture and raises several indexed thresholds, including the alterna tive minimum tax exemption and the estate tax exclusion. For tax professionals, this means planning

NEW DEDUCTION FOR OVER 65

Older Americans also received a targeted benefit. Individuals age 65 and older may claim an additional $6,000 deduction in addition to the standard senior deduction already available under existing law from

Statements or opinions expressed in the Oklahoma Bar Journal are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Oklahoma Bar Association, its officers, Board of Governors, Board of Editors or staff.

14 | MAY 2026

THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL