Tax season isn’t as far away as it may seem
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STEUBENVILLE -- With the end of the year less than two months away and the deadline for filing you income tax return a little more than five months away, it’s probably not too early to be thinking about what goes into doing taxes.
That reminder came from Curtis Mullins Jr. while speaking during a percent meeting of the Steubenville Rotary Club at the JeffCo Event Center.
“I would recommend very highly that if you have any changes at all going on, by all means, communicate it, and try to do some tax planning. That’s because at different times, depending on what the changes are, they could greatly impact your taxes,” Mullins, a Rotarian himself, said.
A certified public accountant, Mullins is a partner at D’Anniballe and Co. Inc., which he joined in 2013.
Getting the right help from a professional who can answer your questions is an important step in navigating the process, he said.
He told club members the standard deduction for 2026 would be $32,200 for those who are married and filing jointly, while it will stand at $16,100 for a single filer. A person who filed as a head of household’s standard deduction will be $24,150.
“A lot of people might not realize this, but if in the year you are filing jointly with your spouse, if they die in a current year, you can still file a joint return for that year, even though your spouse might not be with you. You have one year to do that,” Mullins said.
Effective through 2028, there’s an additional deduction for senior citizens, Mullins said, adding it is not related to your taxable portion of Social Security.
“Everyone who is 65 and older and qualifies, can get an additional $6,000 deduction on their tax return,” Mullins said while talking about another part of income taxes that will run through 2028.
It begins to phase out at $75,000 for single filers, he added, and at $150,000 for those who are married and filing jointly.
“We saw a lot of this when this first appeared in 2025,” Mullins said. “In some cases, it did eliminate a great deal of taxes, and for some, just a part. If their modified adjusted gross income and they were married filing jointly was, say, $190,000, they wouldn’t get the full $6,000.
“It’s for those itemizing and not itemizing -- of course, you need to have a Social Security number, and if a couple is married and filing separate, they are not allowed to take the deduction,” he added.
Also included in the One, Big, Beautiful Bill, Mullins explained, was an annual deduction for car interest that also was in play last year. There’s a $10,000 maximum for qualified vehicle loan interest, Mullins continued. Lenders have to provide a statement for any interest that is paid at $600 and over.
“It’s just for personal use, and the final assembly of the vehicle needs to be in the United States,” Mullins said, adding you can find a VIN decoder at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website that can give you that information for your vehicle.
No taxes on tips also will run through 2028, he said, adding they saw a lot of this in 2025.
“If anyone had tipped income as an employee, they can qualify for up to $25,000 of a deduction. It is going to phase out at between $150,000 and $300,000, depending on how you file,” Mullins explained. It doesn’t apply to specified service, trade of businesses or their employees, including those who work in health, the law, accounting, financial and several other fields.
“Last year, we had to work with employees who had to work with their employer to sometimes get the amount because these weren’t being reported 100% on the W-2s. The maximum annual deduction is $12,500 for those who are filing single and $25,000 for married filing jointly. You must have a Social Security number, he said, and it is not available to those who are married and filing separately.
That number will be included on W-2s this year, Mullins said.
The child tax credit has been made permanent, he added, and up to $1,700 of the credit can be refundable per child.
On the other end of the spectrum, the estate tax exemption has been permanently increased this year to $15 million for those filing singly and $30 million for those who are married and filing jointly. The annual gift tax exclusion is $19,000, he added.
“When folks start to get into their senior years, sometimes they will run out and get a trust made,” Mullins said. “They’ll do a lot of work just because everyone says that’s what you should do. We get a lot of folks who come in and we’ll ask why they do certain thing, and a lot of it’s just because that’s what their friends are telling them to do. If you have a trust set up or if you’re going to have a trust set up, you probably want to take a look at it,” Mullins said.
“But with these kinds of exemptions, some people don’t need trusts have them, and some people who don’t have trusts need them,” he continued,
The annual gift tax exclusion still allows a person to give $19,000 to any one person, a number that increases to $38,000 for a couple, and no gift tax return has to be filed, he added. If you do file a gift tax return, it’s for reporting purposes, and no balance is due with it.
For 2026, the qualified charitable deduction for non-itemizers has been made permanent at a $1,000 deduction for single filers and $2,000 for those who are married and filing jointing. For itemizers, it’s 0.05 percent of the adjusted gross income floor, and if the adjusted gross income is $100,000, only donations above $500 are deductible.
Mullins said it’s important to keep track of when required minimum distributions from accounts need to begin. He said if you do miss some, the tax implications are likely to be great. Those distributions start when you reach 73.
“If required minimum distributions are coming into play, do some tax planning and talk to the person who does your tax returns,” Mullins added.
He explained that, beginning in 2026, there is a cap of $750,000 on acquisition debt.