If tax season is your favorite time of the year . . . who are you? For the rest of us, it can be hard to keep track of everything as Tax Day approaches (including when Tax Day is).

So, let’s cover all the important stuff you’ll need to know to file your taxes right and on time. 

Tax Deadlines and Key Dates

Here are a few of the dates to circle on your calendar this tax season:

• Late January 2026: Tax season begins. And we’re off! This is when the IRS officially starts accepting and processing tax returns for 2025.  
• February 2, 2026: Due date for employers to send W-2 forms. Check your mailbox and your emails, because you’ll be getting your W-2 from your job around this date. This is also the day when 1099 forms are sent to independent contractors, freelance workers and people with other forms of miscellaneous income—things like interest, dividends and prize winnings.   
• April 15, 2026: Tax Day. For all of you procrastinators out there, this is the last day to file your federal tax return and make any tax payments you owe. It’s also the last day to request a six-month extension if you can’t file your return by Tax Day.  
• October 15, 2026: Tax return extension deadline. If you choose to file an extension request, this is the due date for filing your tax return.  

How the One Big Beautiful Bill Act Affects Your Taxes

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), signed into law in the summer of 2025, could have a big impact on your taxes this year. It makes many of the temporary tax cuts from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanent—and it also adds several new, short-term tax changes that may affect your tax bill.

For now, let’s run through some of the key things you need to know for this upcoming tax season:  

1. The OBBBA makes the standard deduction increase permanent.

When you pay taxes, you can either take the standard deduction or itemize your deductions (calculate your deductions one by one). The standard deduction is the easier choice because it lowers the amount of income you’re taxed on by a specific dollar amount.

The bill not only locks in the larger standard deduction, but it also expands it further. For tax year 2025, the standard deduction went up slightly to adjust for inflation:

Standard Deduction for 2025

Filing Status	Standard Deduction
Single	$15,750
Married Filing Jointly	$31,500
Married Filing Separately	$15,750
Head of Household	$23,6252

2. There are some new (temporary) deductions for workers and seniors.

Three major deductions are available from 2025 through 2028, and you can claim them even if you choose not to itemize your taxes:

• Tipped workers can deduct up to $25,000 worth of tips from their income (this deduction phases out for individuals who make $150,000 or more, or $300,000 for couples).
• Hourly overtime workers can deduct up to $12,500 ($25,000 for couples) for overtime wages. This applies to hourly workers, not salaried employees.
• Seniors (ages 65 or older) now have access to a temporary $6,000 deduction. It begins to phase out for seniors who earn more than $75,000 ($150,000 for couples).³

3. The state and local tax deduction cap increases.

For those in high-tax states, here’s some good news for you: The state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap temporarily increases to $40,000. This benefit is reduced for those earning over $500,000 and is scheduled to return to $10,000 in 2030.⁴

4. Got kids? Here are some expanded tax breaks for families.

Let’s talk about tax credits. A tax credit is a taxpayer’s best friend because it lowers your tax bill dollar for dollar. For example, if you owe $3,000 in taxes and you qualify for a $1,000 tax credit, your tax bill is now $2,000. Pretty neat, huh?

One of the most popular tax credits out there is the child tax credit. Thanks to the OBBBA, the child tax credit is permanently extended for tax year 2025 and increases to $2,200 per child. Up to $1,700 of that amount is refundable—which means if the credit is greater than what you owe in taxes, you’ll get to keep the difference as a refund!⁵

Also, the adoption tax credit becomes partially refundable (up to $5,000) for the 2025 tax year as well.⁶

5. Out with the old tax credits, in with the new ones. 

If you were hoping to get a tax credit on your new electric vehicle, we hope you bought it before October—that tax credit ended after September 30, 2025. Credits for solar panels and energy-efficient home upgrades are also on the way out—they expire at the end of 2025.

Now, you can deduct up to $10,000 in interest on car loans for new, U.S.-assembled vehicles. However, this deduction phases out for taxpayers with an income over $100,000 ($200,000 if you’re married filing jointly).⁷ But borrowing money to buy a new car is pretty much always a bad idea—regardless of the tax credit.

Tax Checklist

Whether you’re filing with a tax pro this season or doing it on your own with tax software like Ramsey SmartTax, you’ll need the right information in front of you. That way, you can file correctly and find places where you can qualify for credits and deductions to lower your tax bill. Here are some of the basics: 

• Identification information for you and your dependents: You’ll need date of birth info and either a Social Security number or individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN) for each person on your tax return.

• A copy of your most recent tax return: Having a copy of last year’s return can give you an idea of what deductions and tax credits you qualify for and save some time in the process.

• Income statements and tax forms: Gather your W-2 from your employer and all those 1099 forms you might receive for freelance work, interest income and other types of taxable income. You’ll need copies of those tax forms to file your taxes.

• Proof of expenses: Planning to itemize your deductions this year? Then you’ll need receipts and other documents on hand to prove those expenses. It helps to keep track of that paperwork as you go!  

If you want a cheat sheet you can go back to during tax season, we’ve got you covered! The Personal Tax Checklist will help you gather all the necessary documents and choose the right deductions for your specific situation.