[00:00:01] Well, we're back with Take Control Tuesday and on the phone is Mansa Musa from money smart life.org Mansa, I am so excited that we're back and we're going to jump right into some brand new tax changes for 2026. Now, we're not talking about last year, 2025, but some big changes that will help a lot of people. Yeah, we're not talking about tax preparation. We're talking about tax planning. Okay. Right. So 2025 taxes are due April 15th of 2026. What we're talking about are the taxes that'll be due in April 2027.
[00:00:41] So what we're talking about today in tax, 90% of the people that file taxes in America, those are people that take the standard deduction. They don't itemize the first change.
[00:00:53] That is really helpful. When you took the standard deduction before your charitable giving, if you didn't itemize, was invisible to the tax code. But now, starting in 2026, you get an additional standard deduction of $1,000 for single filers or $2,000 for couples.
[00:01:19] So what that means is if you're already giving and you're taking the standard deduction, all you have to do is document your donations and make sure you file your taxes and that'll be an additional 1 to $2,000 reduction of your taxable income. Okay, so just do what you've been doing and make sure you take the deduction. Yes. Now, the next benefit I'm pretty excited about personally because it's for older people, people that are 65 and older.
[00:01:54] Starting in 2026, seniors will receive an additional $6,000 on top of the standard deduction.
[00:02:06] And if you're married and filing jointly and both people are over 65, up to $12,000, my goodness, added to your standard deduction.
[00:02:19] So what should seniors do?
[00:02:22] First of all, you can confirm whether this applies to you or not. And don't assume nothing new applies just because you retired and your income hasn't changed. Right. Once again, what this does, it reduces the amount of income that will be taxed.
[00:02:40] So what we want to do is, first of all, your charitable giving finally counts.
[00:02:47] Just make sure you have the proper documentation.
[00:02:50] And for seniors, the deduction just gets better. What you need to do is be aware of it so that you can plan for it. For a lot of people, what this means is they can increase the withholding and actually drop more money to their bottom line on their checks and things like that. So main thing, be aware, plan for 2026 reap the benefit in 2027 for stuff that you're already doing, making sure that you are dotting those eyes and crossing those T's. And as always, Mansa, we have all this information that will
[email protected] so you can refer to it and get the archives.
[00:03:36] And as always, Mansa, thank you, thank you.
