The top tax stories of 2024 for financial advisors

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As much as financial advisors, tax professionals and their clients are racing toward the end of the year, these weeks represent a brief bit of calm before a frenzied stretch for planners.

That's because President Donald Trump and his Republican party will soon be facing the opportunities — and the risks — that come with the potential expiration of many provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. Politics, investment strategy, practice management and the many other topics covered in the slideshow below of Financial Planning's top tax stories of 2024 will loom large next year as well.

However, nothing will pose as much complexity and uncertainty for planners and their clients as the possible sunset of many parts of the law. The massive impact to clients' money in areas like the standard deduction, estate-tax exemptions and qualified business income, combined with a price tag of these provisions starting at $4.6 trillion, will likely leave everyone guessing on the ultimate outcome and exact terms until President Trump signs any bill into law next year.

"The fact that Republicans will control the House, Senate and White House next year positions them to advance budget reconciliation legislation that reflects their key tax priorities," according to a primer on the tax questions facing the next administration and Congress by the Tax Policy Group in Deloitte Tax's Washington National Tax Office. 

"Nonetheless, the built-in limitations of the budget reconciliation process plus the difficulties sometimes associated with holding together narrow majorities in both congressional chambers will require House and Senate leaders to tread carefully in putting together a tax package," the report continued. "With these caveats in mind, it is critical for taxpayers to stay abreast of tax policy developments in Washington and to, as soon as possible, begin evaluating what is being put forward, modeling potential outcomes and planning the appropriate actions to take if and when these proposals go from high-level plans and talking points to fully framed legislation with substance, effective dates and, possibly, carve-outs and anti-abuse rules."

But without knowing the specifics of any particular legislation and its effects on the provisions expiring a little over a year from now, following those steps may well prove easier said than done. After the bumpy path through the election, the last weeks of 2024 seem like a relaxing Sunday drive down a smooth road into 2025 in comparison.

"All of this sets up the prospect of a massive fiscal cliff for President-elect Trump and the incoming 119th Congress as they grapple with how to address the pending expiration of marquee TCJA provisions such as reduced income tax rates for individuals, increased exemption amounts for the individual alternative minimum tax and the estate and gift tax, the doubled child tax credit, the increased standard deduction and the 20% deduction for permanent passthrough business income," the Deloitte report said.    

For a roundup of nearly five dozen tax-related stories from the past year on politics, practice management, investment strategies, health savings accounts, individual retirement accounts, estate planning, Social Security and more, scroll down the slideshow. To see last year's list, click here.