The law did not eliminate the charitable deduction in name. It rendered it functionally useless for anyone who does not already have enough deductions to clear the standard deduction threshold on their own.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act made the bonus depreciation permanent, allowing company executives to write off 100 percent of the cost of an investment that depreciates in value, like a humble fleet van or an eight-figure business-class jet.
A recent analysis from Tufts University's Center for State Policy Analysis estimates it would reduce state tax revenue by roughly $5.1 billion per year - about a 10% overall decline - while saving the median Massachusetts household around $1,250 annually.
Under current law, bitcoin is treated as property, which means every purchase with the asset triggers a capital gains calculation, regardless of transaction size. BPI argues that this framework discourages routine payments, such as buying coffee or sending small remittances, because users must track cost basis and report minor gains and losses.
"We are still in the early days of the so-called great wealth transfer," says the lawyer Pierre Valentin, the joint head of art law at Fieldfisher. "The wave started in the US with the sale of collections such as those of Sydell Miller, Mica Ertegun and more recently, Leonard Lauder. The wave is coming to Europe, for example with the auction of the collection of Pauline Karpidas [last] September. I expect that there will be many more of those 'white glove' sales in the next 10 to 15 years because younger collectors collect differently from their parents and grandparents."
Tax filing season officially begins on Monday, January 26. If you missed the news last year, the IRS has ended its Direct File Service. My home state joined the program in 2025, and while it wasn't the only free option for filing taxes, I can attest it was absolutely the easiest -- especially if your tax situation goes beyond basic W-2 forms. (I was surprised to learn that fewer than 300,000 people used the service last year.)
When it comes to tax season, it's always an annual reminder that where you live does determine how much of your paycheck actually stays in your pocket. While federal taxes apply equally across state lines, state and local taxes can vary, often dramatically, and for residents of the highest-taxed states, the difference can amount to thousands of dollars every year.