AAII 2025–2026 Tax Guide: Tax-Planning Strategies for Investors
Year-end planning steps to time income and deductions, avoid underpayment penalties, maximize tax breaks and navigate AMT rules for 2025 and 2026.
Key year-end tax-planning steps, including income and deduction timing and safe harbor rules for avoiding underpayment penalties
Strategies for accelerating or deferring income, deductions, charitable gifts, medical costs, state taxes and interest payments
AMT considerations, estate and gift tax planning basics, and how timing choices affect future tax liability
Tax-Planning Strategies for Investors
At the end of each year, you should take the time to assess your tax situation. Doing so will give you the opportunity to shift certain items around, should that be beneficial in terms of your tax liability. Taking a few initial steps now and using year-end planning can result in significant tax savings.
Here are the basic steps you should take to help start your personal tax planning:
Estimate your income, deductions, credits and exemptions for 2025 and 2026 using the Tax Forecasting Worksheet.
Identify items that you can shift from 2025 into 2026 and beyond (or vice versa).
Determine your marginal tax rate—the rate at which your next dollar of income will be taxed—for 2025 and 2026.
Determine how much tax you owe and when you must pay it to avoid underpayment penalties.
Determine whether you are subject to the AMT.
Consult with your tax professional, and then take the actions needed to make the best of your tax situation.
To minimize your taxes, consider both short-term and long-term tax-planning issues and strategies. Starting early will give you extra time to obtain additional information about items that concern you and to investigate additional ideas for tax savings or deferral.