2026 Tax Strategies You Can’t Ignore (And What You Can Still Do for 2025)

Summary

---

Tax Smart Real Estate Investors Podcast

Episode: 2026 Tax Strategies You Can’t Ignore (And What You Can Still Do for 2025)
Date: December 30, 2025
Host: Hall CPA (Tom & Nate)

---

Episode Overview

This end-of-year episode dives into crucial tax strategies for real estate investors heading into 2026, with actionable guidance on what can still be done for 2025 filings. Tom and Nate break down what’s changed, what’s sunset, and what opportunities and “loopholes” remain for maximizing tax savings. This is a practical guide for investors—both small-time and large-scale—looking to keep more of their gains and set themselves up for optimal tax efficiency.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Year-End Actions: What Can You Still Do for 2025?

• IRA and HSA Contributions
  • Still possible for the 2025 tax year if completed by the April 15, 2026 deadline.
  • “You can still do that… you just need to do it before your tax return gets filed.” (D, 02:05)
• Cost Segregation Studies
  • Can be completed after year-end—but property must have been acquired and placed in service by December 31, 2025, for 2025 tax benefits. (C & D, 03:48–05:11)
  • For short-term rentals: Need at least a couple guest nights at market rate before year-end.
  • “You would have to have your property in order to apply it to the 2025 tax year... acquired and placed in service before the end of 2025.” (C, 04:08)
• Missed the Deadline? Not All Is Lost
  • Strategies often involve timing differences; missing 2025 doesn't eliminate future opportunity, but defers it.
  • “Just because it didn’t work for one year doesn’t mean we’re out. That means our 2025 tax return isn’t going to be as juicy potentially… You have to wait a little bit.” (D, 05:11)
• Qualified Opportunity Zones
  • Briefly teased as a possible late-inning move, but detailed later.

2. Top Tax Strategies for 2026

• Short-Term Rental ("STR") Loophole
  • Continues as a leading strategy: acquire property, maintain average stays <7 days, materially participate, use cost segregation for major losses to offset W2/active income.
  • “Short term rental strategy… still alive and well and will probably remain one of the top tax strategies for people who are doing real estate part-time and not able to qualify for real estate professional status.” (C, 07:09)
• Oil & Gas Funds
  • Attractive for late-year or high-income investors seeking non-passive losses.
  • Must thoroughly vet managers; don’t let “tax tail wag the dog.”
  • “It's actually one of the few strategies that you don’t have to do anything except make the investment and be able to take the losses as non-passive.” (C, 09:29)
• Real Estate Professional Status (REPS)
  • Remains unchanged and powerful for long- and mid-term rental investors.
  • 100% bonus depreciation also stays in play.
• 1031 Exchanges
  • Still a workhorse for tax deferral, but with tight timelines and complexity:
    • 45-day identification, 180-day closing, strict property rules.
    • “1031s… are fantastic. They’re great at tax deferral, but that’s all they’re really good for.” (D, 10:59)
  • Alternative: “Lazy 1031”
    • Sell property and buy another in the same calendar year, use cost seg and bonus depreciation to offset gains.
    • Greater flexibility than standard 1031, but must occur within same tax year. (C, 11:53–13:06)
• S Corporations
  • Still viable for small business owners to save on self-employment taxes.
  • Watch for state-specific restrictions (notably California, NY).
  • “Tax wise, we don’t care… Federal tax perspective, they don’t care where your LLC's set up. The state might call it illegal. That is your risk.” (D, 16:55)
• Retirement Accounts & “Shadow Contributions”
  • Still available for 2026. Details not deeply covered, but stability noted.

3. Qualified Opportunity Zones (QOZs) and 2026-27 Rule Changes

• Recognizing Deferred Gains
  • 2026: All previously deferred capital gains in QOZ funds become taxable.
  • With K1/partnership investments, some may be able to “hop” that gain into 2027.
  • “This is when the piper comes to pay… you might be able to… redefer all those gains potentially.” (D, 14:00)
  • 2027: New rules trigger 5-year gain recognition cycles and 10% step-up.
• Strategic Implication:
  • Partnership/K1 investors have more “date” flexibility for reinvestment.
  • “Long story short, there is an opportunity to take advantage of new 2027 rules potentially.” (D, 15:57)

4. What’s No Longer Available (Sunset in 2025)

• Charitable Contributions Haircut
  • “Half percent AGI rule” applies from 2026: loses a portion of deductible charitable contributions as AGI rises.
  • Non-itemizers now able to deduct cash contributions, fresh for 2026.
• Residential Solar Credit
  • 30% federal tax credit for solar panels on primary residences ends after 2025.
  • “Solar panels on primary residences. That is gone after this year. There's no longer an option in 2026.” (D, 18:46)
  • Business solar credit still available through 2027.

5. Other Memorable Moments & Lighter Segments

• STR Last-Minute Guest Stays:
  • Jokingly offering to fly themselves in as guests to meet participation rules
  • “If you need someone to come stay at your Airbnb… Tom and I will come stay there for your last day.” (D, 06:20)
• Automation & The Future:
  • Speculation about same-day robot installation for solar panels in the future (20:05-20:58).
  • Robot guard dogs in insurance world, powered by—wait for it—solar panels.
• Closing Thoughts:
  • Encouragement to set goals for 2026, stay proactive, and consult accredited advisors.

---

Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• On STR strategy for high-income W2 earners:

  “Short term rental strategy… still alive and well and will probably remain one of the top tax strategies for people who are doing real estate part time and not able to qualify the real estate professional status.”
  — Tom, (07:09)

• On timing and year-end urgency:

  “You can get your cost seg done in January, in February, in March, in April, in May, in June… you just need to do it before your tax return gets filed.”
  — Nate, (02:05)

• On 1031 Exchanges’ limitations:

  “1031s, I call them golden handcuffs because they are fantastic… but that’s all they’re really good for is tax deferral.”
  — Nate, (10:59)

• On the “Lazy 1031”:

  “You can literally buy the property now and sell your property later on down the year or vice versa… as long as you can get it done in the same tax year.”
  — Tom, (11:53)

• QOZ rule change humor:

  “This is when the piper comes to pay, right? This is when you got to pay the… pay the piper.”
  — Nate, (14:00)

• On S-Corp state legalities:

  “Federal tax perspective, they don’t care where your LLC set up. The state might call it illegal… that is your risk.”
  — Nate, (16:55)

• On residential solar tax credit ending:

  “Solar panels on primary residences. That is gone after this year. There’s no longer an option in 2026.”
  — Nate, (18:46)

---

Timestamps for Major Segments

• 2025 Actions You Can Still Take: 01:47–06:55
• Key Strategies for 2026: 07:09–18:04
• QOZ & 1031s Deep Dive: 10:59–15:57
• What Sunsets After 2025: 18:04–19:51
• Lighter/future-looking segment (automation): 19:51–21:06
• Closing/Outlook for 2026: 21:06–22:41

---

Final Takeaways

• Most top real estate tax strategies (STR loophole, REPS, 100% bonus depreciation, S-corps, cost-seg, oil & gas) persist into 2026.
• Some key benefits sunsetted after 2025: residential solar, certain charitable deductions.
• Plan proactively and stay informed—timing, compliance, and proactive advisor engagement make the difference.
• QOZ funds face a crucial taxable event in 2026, with new hopping strategies possible for some.

Hosts sign off with actionable encouragement:

“The sooner you have clarity on what your tax strategy is going to be, the more time you have to do it, the more money is on the table to potentially save.”
(Tom, 22:21)

---

Useful for all real estate investors and business owners—act now, know your deadlines, and keep optimizing!

Transcript

[A]

You're now listening to the Tax Smart REI Podcast, the number one tax podcast for real estate investors.

[B]

Your source for all things real estate, accounting and tax. Here we reveal our secrets that can save you thousands in taxes, streamline your accounting process, and help grow your business. Stay tuned to hear insightful interviews with industry experts, successful real estate investors, and current clients on what strategies they use to grow their business and how they steer clear of Uncle Sam.

[A]

Hey, everyone, thanks for tuning into this.

[C]

Week'S episode of the Tax Smart REI.

[A]

Podcast, and I hope you had a great holiday break.

[C]

As you know, we always take the Christmas week off from an episode, and this episode is gonna be releasing on the 30th of December, so it'll be our last official episode of the year. And what we're gonna be going through today is what can you still do for 2025 after the year ends here in 2026? I'm sure many of you gonna be listening to this in 2026. Also, what can you do in 2026? So what are the top strategies for this year ahead? And also, what can you no longer do anymore? What strategies have officially sunsetted in 2025 that are no longer on the table? We're going to be diving into all of that in just one minute.

[A]

You've probably never found a real estate newsletter worth reading, and that's because we hadn't created ours yet. The REI Daily is a newsletter you actually want to read whether you own one property or a hundred.

[C]

We created this for you if you.

[A]

Each issue delivers crucial tax saving strategies, legislative updates, as well as real estate market insights. Everything you need to stay sharp and.

[C]

Ahead of the game.

[A]

Get the real estate and tax news that actually matters straight to your inbox. Subscribe to the REI Daily newsletter [e-mail] subscribe. That's it for now and right back into today's episode.

[C]

All right, and we're back. So, Nate, you know, it's. We're turning the page into a new year here, and there's some things on the table that people can still do for 2025, and I think that's where we're going to start. Kick off this episode here. Do you want to just maybe kick us off with what are some of the things that people could still do for last year?

[D]

Right? Yeah. It's like the window's not closed, right, Tom? Like, the window's still open. There's still things we can consider doing. So one of the things that we can consider doing for 2025 that we can still do in 2026. Right? That's, that's one of the key, like basically, hey, we can roll this over. We have to sprint to get this taken care of this year. Sometimes better if we do. But first thing, contribute to IRAs. Roth, traditional, whatever. You can still do that. The difference is a lot of items get an extension. They say, hey, you can do this up to your extension day, up to X, Y and Z. Right? You can't do that. If you want to contribute to an IRA, that's the only, it has to be done by 415. Same thing with Health Savings Accounts, right. With HSA, we can't continue those. All of these have to be completed by April 15th. And also if you do the HSA, you're not gonna able to get that payroll tax savings either. So you. Cause like there's no payroll check to run it through basically. So you're gonna have to contribute that outside and put that into your account. Hey, if it works, awesome. No sweat. That's a good idea. But those are two items that we can do for 2025. In 2026 we're gonna have a lot of fun. People are gonna be like doing all the, all the math with the years in their head. Right here. Yeah. The other thing too is cost segs, right. People are always sweating, always being like, oh man, I gotta get my cost done right now. Oh man, I don't know what I'm gonna get it done. Right. We all have that year end anxiety. Like hey you, your holidays, right time. I know like you're trying to figure out, hey, when do I travel, right. I gotta do all this type of stuff, I gotta go home, see family and then that's X days. I'm not working, so I gotta go do this now, et cetera, et cetera. Well, you can get your cost seg done in January, in February, in March, in April, in May, in June. Let's not push it beyond July maybe, but the weekend. But basically you just need to do it before your tax return gets filed. Right Tom?

[C]

Right, absolutely. And to be clear, because I know some people I've spoken to kind of don't know where the line ends with cost segregation and the overall short term rental or real estate professional status strategies. So to be clear, you would have to have your property in order to apply it to the 2025 tax year you will have to have for real estate professional status.

[D]

Right.

[C]

For our long term and midterm rental investors out there, you need to have the property acquired and placed in service before the end of 2025.

[A]

Okay? That's the first thing that happened.

[C]

Now you can still go and do the cost seg study and report it on your 2025 tax return after the year ends. So in 2026 here. But you need to have the property placed in service already in 2025 for our short term rental investors out there. You have to obviously have acquired the property and you need to have guest.

[A]

Days, ideally two guest days or plenty.

[C]

More to use the strategy in 2025 before the ball drops and it turns 2026.

[D]

Okay?

[C]

So those things need to be true. Now the cost seg itself, the breakdown of the components within that property, that is what can be completed before year end. Okay? But the other part of the strategy, the material participation, the placing in service or getting your guest stays, that all needs have already happened. And if you did not do that, then you cannot take 100% bonus depreciation pass, go against your W2 income or your other active business income.

[D]

And look, Tom, you're not SOL either, Right? That doesn't mean you didn't get a place in service in 2025. Doesn't mean we can't do stuff in 2026. Right. Maybe that's the year we got him material participation. Right? That's like, it's like just because it didn't work for one year doesn't mean we're not out. Sure. That means our 2025 tax return isn't going to be as juicy potentially. Or we're not going to get as much savings. Doesn't mean that we're not able to use the strategy. We have to wait a little bit. That's all we have to do essentially. Right. And there's like, it's like continue playing the game of like. Hey, it's always. Everyone likes to say it's always a timing difference. Right? Right. That's what everyone loves to say for the most part. It's always a timing difference and how all that stuff rolls out. But you're right on point there, Tom. I kind of thought it was funny though. I'd never thought about this. Someone's like, I gotta get a stay in. So like they literally rush in like someone like a friend or something like that. And like they exchange like cash right in front of the door. Get him in. It's like, ah, to stay. Right. I mean, I'm not suggesting this to anybody, but if, like I'd be interested to hear the story if something like this did happen.

[C]

Yeah. There's nothing the task court cases or regulations or anything that I've seen that says how the stay came about.

[A]

Right.

[C]

It's just as long as somebody stayed in there at fair market rate.

[D]

Right, right.

[C]

Who's not your family. So anyway, this, for many people listening to this, this is going to be released again on December 30th, so it's this year's over.

[D]

For all intents and purposes, Tom, just throw it out there. If you need someone to come stay at your Airbnb, you're willing to fly us out. Tom and I will come stay there for your last day. Just let us know. You pay for our flights, we'll pay you fair market value for the Airbnb. No, no sweat. Right. Well, like we'll do. We're totally, totally okay with that. Right, Tom?

[C]

Yeah, absolutely. We only got two spots for this every year, so if you want to, you got to sign up quick.

[D]

Okay.

[C]

Anyway, in all seriousness, those are like the major takeaways for 2025, what you could still do for, for last year at this point. I'm. By the way, I'm taking this for everybody's listening. We're in 2026 in my mind right now.

[D]

Right.

[A]

So, yeah.

[C]

So that's pretty much what you can do. Is there anything else that's on the table still for 2025 that people can do that maybe I'm missing?

[D]

I think you pretty much covered it, Tom. I don't think there's really anything else major that's sitting out there at this moment.

[C]

Okay, cool, cool, cool.

[A]

Well, there's qualified opportunity zones, right.

[C]

Potentially. But we'll get into that in a second. All right, so what are the top tax strategies in 2026? So I'll kick it off here. Short term rental tax strategy, the short term rental loophole, whatever you want to call it, basically buying a short term rental, having an average stay of seven days or less and then materially participating, then using a cost seg to take take all the losses against your W2 or active business income that is still alive and well and will probably remain one of the top tax strategies for people who are doing real estate part time and not able to qualify the real estate professional status for the foreseeable future. Okay. As far as taxes are concerned, 100% bonus depreciation is here to stay, it's been made permanent, and there's been no talk that I've seen at all whatsoever on changing the federal regulations around seven days or less and accepting it from the day of an average from, from a rental activity. Right there's. Been no talk. There's been plenty of regulation at the state and local levels around where what can be a short term rental whatnot, HOAs, things like that. But that's not preventing us from a tax perspective. So short term rental strategy still alive and well. I expect that still to be leading tax strategy for high W2 income earners as well as business owners who can't qualify for the real estate professional status. What's on your list, Nate?

[D]

No, it's a good one, right? Short term rental strategy, one that is actually coming up pretty frequently right now. Oil and gas, a lot of people who are like man, I haven't done anything so far this year for 2020, for 2025 even. So it's one that you can still technically try and do. Actually now we're just talking about it out loud like investing into an oil and gas working interest fund that can get you the opportunity to get you tax savings. Also you can do it 2026 as well. Right? That's the thing. So if you can find an open fund right now, put your money in, potentially it works out right? Always. Like a lot of times these funds are pretty much closed by December 15th and December 30th. So actually by the time this podcast release, sorry, that doesn't help. But in 2026 you've got the full year. You find you can look through funds, you can look through different opportunities, figure out who works best is going to get you the best ROI and best tax benefits too. That's a really big strategy potentially.

[C]

Right? Right. Of course with oil and gas it's another one of those things. You don't always want to let the tax tail wag the dog. So you do want to find reputable providers of oil and gas funds and opportunities, investment opportunities that you can invest into. But as far as taxes are concerned, it's definitely a viable strategy.

[D]

It's.

[C]

It's actually one of the few strategies that you don't have to do anything except make the investment and be able to take the losses as non passive. So still very viable. And of course you know we have the real estate professional status for all of our again long term and midterm rental investors out there. Real estate professional status is not going anywhere. Again, neither is cost SEG, neither is 100% bonus depreciation. So real estate professional status still very much a viable strategy going into 2026 and for the foreseeable future. So just something else, keep in mind and guess what for as far as reps is concerned and even to extent short term rentals. If you're listening to this on December 30th or in the beginning of 2026, you have the entire year to make this happen. If it's in the cards for you, you're starting fresh with a new with a new year. Still very viable strategies here.

[D]

Yeah, absolutely.

[A]

Tom, it's that time of the year again. The New Year's right around the corner. If you've been listening to the podcast.

[C]

All year thinking I really need to.

[A]

Get proactive about my tax strategy, then.

[C]

This is your moment.

[A]

Because the truth is you probably don't even know how much money you're leaving on the table. At whole cpa, our team helps real estate investors and business owners save thousands of dollars through proactive year round tax planning. Whether you're looking to optimize cost segregation or leverage the real estate professional status or short term rentals, or structure your investments for maximum tax efficiency, then we've got you covered. But here's the deal. Spots for new clients are limited as we approach year end. So if you want to lock in your strategy before tax filing hits, don't wait. Check out the link in the show notes to request a consultation and start working with our team before you miss another opportunity to keep more of what you earn.

[D]

Another thing that people like. So like people got to think about is 1031, right? So like hey, think about selling a property but you want to keep it in real estate. 1031 is another option for us to consider here. So look, 1031s, I call them golden handcuffs because they are fantastic. They're great at tax deferral, but that's all they're really good for is tax deferral. You have like 45 day deadline, 180 day deadline. Also got to find a property, got to find the right amount of value, ensure that you're not doing that, you're getting boot doing exchange expenses and not non exchange expenses. So that way you're not getting hit from a taxable perspective when you do the 1031, it can be kind of messy and I don't think it's a bad strategy. I do think it's a good strategy in all honesty, but I just think it's something that everyone needs to like ask. The question on is like, am I okay with hitting this timeline right? Some people are and they got no problem with it. That's great. They should keep doing it. And Tom, what's our alternative? If people are like, I don't know, 1031 sounds great or I failed my 1031. Right. Maybe, maybe they started in 2025, in December, and it carried in 2026 and fails. What's, what's an option they can do to consider that?

[C]

There we have then the lazy 1031 exchange, which is really not a 1031 exchange at all, but it's a good alternative to it, which is why it's become known as that. And that's basically where you sell your rental property within the calendar year and then you buy another rental or investment property, whatever you want to call it, in the same calendar year, run a cost seg on that new investment property and take the losses from that investment property, use it to offset the gain and the depreciation recapture from the sale of your original property. Now, the key here is that both need to be done in the same tax year. So here, if you're talking about 2026, we're talking about both the property was sold and the new property was bought in 2026. However, it does not need to be one before the other. You can literally buy the property now and sell your property later on down the year or vice versa. So it has a lot more flexibility than the 1031 exchange as long as you can get it done in the same tax year. Whereas to be fair, with the 1031 exchange, you can do that cross tax years. Right? So, for example, if you initiated a sale of a property in 2025 and the sale is not going to, the entire 1031 exchange process is not going to be completed until some point in 2026 that can cross years. The lazy 1031 exchange, you need to get it all done in one year.

[D]

Right? That's a great point, Tom, to emphasize that part like this has to be done in January 1st through December 31st. Right? That's very much like the important part is that it can't do it. So hey, like you said, cost sag on another property you have that's passive or a syndication investment, that's another opportunity you can, you can throw in here. Is that like you did decide, I'm tired of being as hands on or I've got enough on my plate already investing in syndication, where it's not a real estate syndication, where it's not going to be, you're not going to be as hands on. Sure, you'll have calls you have to deal with, et cetera, but it's not, not a whole lot else you have to deal with. And you still get bonus, depreciation, benefits, all that type of stuff. It can Help you offset gain coming from that. So that's another way to download ones are great. These 1031s are also great. Right. Just depends on what fits your style for that moment.

[C]

Cool, Cool. I know some things have changed here in 2026 with Qualified Opportunity Zone funds and QOZs. Just in general, what does the landscape for those look like in 2026?

[D]

Yeah. So Tom, actually the most interesting part is. So two parts. The new one big beautiful bill rules, those don't kick in until 2027 for the most part. There's a couple items that did, but we won't go too deep to depth into those unless it comes up. But those new rules start 11 2027. Basically it's where every five years, that's when you get hit with your capital gains tax. So whatever you defer, right? Whatever you put it, whatever you defer. $100,000 in 2027, 2032, that's when you get taxed on your capital gains at that point in time. You also get a 10% step up in basis. Right? So you get a 10% step up in basis that will help you offset your capital gains. Kind of basically eats away that 10% capital gains rate. Now, interestingly, that's 2032. In 2026, that's when everyone is going to be forced to recognize the capital gains they originally deferred. So that means, hey, sorry if you did it all the way back when or recently, sorry. This is when the piper comes to pay, right? This is when you got to pay the piper. Ah, the other way around, pay the piper. So you got to pay the. Pay the piper. But interestingly, you might be able to depending on your structure. Right. If you're an individual, probably not going to make it work. You'll have 180 days to reinvest into a qualified opportunity fund, a new one when the capital gains releases. You could bounce that in the 2027 if you've invested via partnership or K1, because you have basically three different dates. When you invest via partnership, you have basically the day the gain hits. You have the end of the year. You also have when the partnership files a tax return. So that's three different dates. And all of those can help you get into 2027 and make a new investment and redefer all those gains potentially. Right. I've heard people call it like a, like a hopping strategy. Essentially you hop from 2026 into 2027 for the most part, if it's in a qualified partnership, which it will be right for the most part, that's what I want to say is that like most times, like you're going to receive these gains from AK1 because you have to have all of that set up in your qualified opportunity zone. So long story short, we're saying there is an opportunity to take advantage of the new 2027 rules. Potentially.

[C]

Yeah, for sure. Okay, so that's an update on how that works in 2026. It's good to know for everybody out there who might be planning for those opportunities. Now there's a few more things here we'll cover here for 2026. But so the one thing is S corporations, the ability to use an S corporation to shelter some of your income that you're generating if you're a small business owner from tax is still in play. Right. So if you're a small business owner, you are subject to self employment tax, which is 15.3% up to a certain threshold that I'm not sure if that's been indexed for inflation yet here for 2026. But the point is you're going to have some exposure that self employment tax and using an S corporation or an LLC that's taxed as an S corporation can help you mitigate your exposure. That's still not going anywhere. There's some interesting things that happen in some states. So you just definitely want to make sure you speak with your tax advisor to make sure you're aware of that and how that may impact your state. But the rules have not changed here in 2026. So that's still on the table. What else do we still have on the table for 2026?

[D]

Yeah, I would want to comment slightly on the S corp things. I think in California it's illeg. Let's say you're a real estate broker, pretty sure it's legal for you to become an S corporation. Look, tax wise is what I'll say tax wise, we don't care. Right. From a federal tax perspective, they don't care where your LLC set up. Right. Like the state might call it illegal, like it might be breaking the law with the state. And that is your risk that you're assuming with that. Like from a federal tax perspective it doesn't matter.

[C]

Right.

[D]

So you can still, you could form the S corp. Just know you're doing something legal in your state. So you can, that's, that's a risk that you can look to manage if you decide to.

[C]

Yeah, there's some hair on it too in New York City and there's a few other states that there's just some issues with it. So just again, make sure that you're touching base with your advisor prior to making any decisions there. That's still very much on the table. And then we also have retirement accounts, shadow contributions. The real question is, and this is the next question we're going to dive into is really what's no longer on the table. Right. Because much of what was on the table in 2025 is still on the table in 2026. So not much is really changing there. But I think the real question is, Nate, well, what's no longer in play in 26? What is sunset in 2025?

[D]

One interesting comment to make about charitable contributions for 2026 is going forward. You have to deal with basically what's called this haircut rule, charitable contributions. Basically there's this half percent AGI rule. What does that mean? It's not AI right, It's adjusted gross income. But what that's basically saying is that like, hey, if you have $100,000 of adjusted gross income, you take a.05% haircut off of that. And that's going to mean basically you lose $5 of a charitable contribution. Essentially, as your income goes up, you lose a little bit more of a haircut right there. Right. So if you're an itemizer, this could affect you a little bit. Now in 2026, you also do get to, if you're not an itemizer, you do get to start deducting your charitable contributions as well. Just FYI there too.

[C]

Right.

[D]

That starts effectively 2026 going forward. So it's another thing that people can take advantage of. If you're a non itemizer, it's cash only contributions. I'm pretty sure someone can check me if I'm wrong on that, but I'm pretty sure it's cash only contributions. So that there are some changes happening going forward with charitable contributions, itemized deductions based on that. One other thing that you cannot do in 2026 is solar panels on primary residences. I actually have a couple clients who are working to get this as fast as possible. And essentially what they're trying to do is get these solar panels installed before December 31st. And what that means they will get a 30% tax credit for whatever they paid for the solar panels. That is gone after this year. There's no longer an option in 2026. The business credit still does exist for 2026 through 2027. It ends after 2027. So we only got two years for that credit going forward.

[C]

Okay. So on the business side, there's still some planning opportunities there, but unfortunately that door is shutting or right now again, this is being released on the 30th, so the door is shutting tomorrow. So if that's not already in play for you, then it's probably, it's probably too late. Unless you could rush someone down to install the thing tomorrow.

[D]

It's Amazon rush delivery fee. Right. I'm sure they have it right. I've got going on there.

[C]

In 10 years from now, we'll probably have a conversation around, hey, it's still totally possible if you have this installed same day. Thanks to the robots that are going to install.

[D]

Amazon will send the robot drones out. They'll install them on your house right before anyone shows up. A dude will come in a Tesla and just observe the drones as they're doing it and he's going to go, all right, thumbs up, it's all good to go. And then leave and go take care of the next house.

[C]

Yeah, because I was just thinking about it. You know what? Robots don't have to take a holiday, man. They don't take vacations.

[D]

So this is a fun aside, I will say so, Like I've talked to some people like in the insurance world and they are saying that like a lot of people to get certain insurance policies, they're getting robot dogs. It's essentially like a robo dog, right? Hey, like you were saying, it doesn't sleep, it doesn't rest, it doesn't need food. You don't have to do it. Right. These are for like junkyards, like car parks, stuff like that. But like essentially it's like they're patrolling 24 7. There's no reason that like they don't have to stop, they don't have to rest, they don't get injured. Well, I guess they get injured in my function.

[C]

But to charge the batteries, at some.

[D]

Point you have to charge the battery. You're right. So I guess there is some rest involved. Unless it's portable.

[C]

They have solar panels on the dogs.

[D]

They have solar panels installed on the dogs. Boom. There we go. We just, Tom and I are going to get, are going to end this podcast right now and go start that right.

[C]

Boom. Next hundred million dollar startup. Okay, anyway, so, so, so we've covered a bunch here today for everybody here is tuning in. Thank you again for being with us here through 2025 and moving into 2026. Some things coming up here on the calendar. We do have an episode we're going to have coming up on a new short term rental tax court case that Nathan found and that will be coming up here soon. We're also going to be bringing on some more clients to share their story on how they have built their portfolio, the tax savings they've been able to find through the strategies that they've been using, and we're going to have just more exciting things come up here in 2026 that you'll have more information about as they come about. But thanks again everybody for joining us through this podcast journey. Love having everybody on board. Nate, is there anything else we're missing before we wrap this up here today?

[D]

No, Tom, I think you got it all covered today except wish all the listeners a happy new Year as We're coming on December 30th.

[C]

Yeah, set some goals, hopefully to buy some real estate. We'll catch you next year. And if you're not already working with a tax strategist to help you map out a plan for how you can reduce taxes in 2026. The link is in the show notes to this episode to book a discovery call with our team. So go ahead, click that link, book that call, get on the calendar. You're going to have the entire year to execute. And the sooner you have clarity on what your tax strategy is going to be, the more time you have to do it, the more money is on the table to potentially save. So you don't want to delay that conversation. We'll see you there. But thanks again for tuning in and we'll catch you on next week's episode of Tax Smart REI Podcast.

[A]

The Taxmart Real Estate Investors Podcast is for general information purposes only and is not intended to provide and should not be relied upon for tax, legal or accounting advice. Information on the podcast may not constitute the most up to date legal or other information. No reader, user or listener of this podcast should act or refrain from acting on the basis of the information on this podcast without first seeking legal and tax advice from counsel in the relevant jurisdiction. Use of and access to this podcast or any of the links or resources contained or mentioned within the podcast show or show Notes do not create a relationship between the reader, user or listener of the podcast and the host, contributors or guests. Any mention of third party vendors, products or services does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation. You should conduct your own due diligence before engaging any vendor. For more information, reference the show notes or description of this episode.

[B]

Thanks for listening to today's show.

[A]

Thanks for watching.

[B]

If you enjoyed the show, please find us on itunes and leave us a review. You can also email [e-mail] with any feedback or topic suggestions. We are always taking on new clients and with the new tax laws in play, you really don't want to navigate this alone. Let us help you save money on taxes with your accounting and CFO needs to become a client. Navigate to our client page [e-mail] and fill out a web form with as much detail about your situation as possible. Thanks so much for listening. Have a great rest of your week.