The Joint Committee on Taxation today posted their analysis of proposed changes to the current tax code. The 400+ page document is long but certainly easier to read than the tax bill that posted yesterday 5/12/2025.
Nothing final here but I think it will give a flavor to what may be coming in 2026.
https://www.jct.gov/publications/2025/jcx-21-25/

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a spike in unemployment federal tax law was modified and the Employee Retention Credit (ERC) was born. The ERC was a refundable tax credit for certain eligible businesses and tax-exempt organizations that had employees and were affected during the COVID-19 pandemic. The business, tax community and the Internal Revenue Service continue to deal with compliance aftermath of the ERC.
On March 20, 2025 the IRS updated their frequently asked questions about the employee retention credit in the section headed “Income tax and the ERC”.

On April 30, Kitces posted an comprehensive article regarding the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) describing in detail where the congress is currently at and what steps are necessary to extend and/or change the the TCJA before the current tax law sunsets at the end of 2025.
https://www.kitces.com/blog/tax-cuts-and-jobs-act-tcja-sunset-budget-resolution-reconciliation-salt-cap-qbi-deduction-congress-republication-house-senate-bill/
I agree with the conclusion of the article to currently “wait and see” before taking action until I have a concrete expectation of what the individual income tax rules will look like in 2026.

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-dft/i1099r–dft.pdf
Thanks to HD for fixing the problem in the link.
 
On April 15, 2025 the IRS issued draft instructions for the 2025 version of form 1099-R with a new box 7 code of “Y” to indicate the distribution is a qualified charitable distribution (QCD).
A good addition in my opinion.

We seniors do not DESERVE anything from society or government. This is especially true when giving extra benefits to seniors takes away from younger generations or shifts more tax burden to them.
We do deserve to receive what we contributed toward and were promised by law – Social Security, Medicare, but that also applies to every American. 
The vocal movement on social media to eliminate property taxes for citizens age 65 + is especially disturbing to me –

To clarify I mean my favorite tax election.
For me, a popular choice is the IRC section 266 election to capitalize carrying costs. Many times you may have a current year expense that while technically deductible in the current year does not provide you any current year tax benefit. In such cases the IRC 266 election, if available to you, allows you to capitalize certain expenses thereby increasing the basis of certain land and thus the election means you may have reduced taxable gain at the point in the future when the land is sold.

The link below is to an interesting, to me, Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals tax case that was published March 19, 2025 titled

Hubbard v. Comm’r of Internal Revenue

https://www.opn.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/25a0064p-06.pdf
I was not previously aware that there are two types of criminal forfeitures and the impact, at least so far, determined the taxability of a IRA distribution after forfeiture when the forfeiture order identifies the “specific property”  (the IRA among other things) that the defendant must relinquish.

Every few decades or more often our federal tax system has a major upheaval. After I got my accounting degree in 1977 my first two jobs were working in state government auditing focused on matters internal to the function of the government. I still feel I learned a lot during those jobs but it was not a good fit for me.
In the early 1980’s I entered the world of public accounting which to a large extent is broken into two segments.

As an AARP volunteer Tax Aide for a second tax season, I completed about 100 returns and reviewed many others prepared by other volunteers. I volunteer two days a week from February 1 to April 14 at two different senior centers and continue to make observations based my clients’ tax situations.
The Tax Aide program is free and not limited to seniors or AARP members. Even though most clients are retired seniors, we can serve all ages and incomes.

Reading various social media sites it strikes me how uninformed so many people are about money and economics. No, I’m not being a snob. I make no claim to expertise on either subject, but I do make an effort to obtain a basic understanding and check facts before I comment or initiate a post. 
Billionaires and the wealthy are frequent targets. Did you know billionaires pay lower taxes than middle class taxpayers? They pay only 8% according to some sources or that’s what many people choose to believe.

For many, perhaps most of us, taxes are pretty simple, especially with the higher standard deduction.
So, did you prepare your own taxes, use a free tax preparation service, an accountant or fee base tax preparer?
Did you directly download 1099s for investments from your record keeper as opposed to manual entry?
Why did you make the choice you did? We’re you satisfied with results?
I have used TurboTax for several years. It works for me,

One option per the IRS –
Pay online and click on extension. Taxpayers simply pay what they owe using an online payment option, then click on extension as the reason for the payment. The taxpayer will receive a confirmation number of their extension for their records. There’s no need to file any additional forms.
https://www.irs.gov/payments
The failure to pay penalty is 0.5% per month. The failure to file penalty is 5.0% per month.

From IR-2025-47, April 14, 2025
The Internal Revenue Service announced today tax relief for individuals and businesses in the entire state of Tennessee affected by severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes and flooding that began on April 2, 2025.
These taxpayers now have until Nov. 3, 2025, to file various federal individual and business tax returns and make tax payments.
The full announcement IR-205-47 at the following link –
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?pli=1#inbox/FMfcgzQZVJzzFxfSCzRrbMsrFXCPDFTm
Imagine having worked long hours for months on end.

I recently wrote in a comment on HD that I think the most important, usable, and meaningful tax breaks go to average middle income Americans. Not being a tax expert, I did some digging to find them. 
Perhaps Rick Connor and others know of more I missed.  
Here is what I came up with. 
Child Tax Credit – helps families with qualifying children by reducing their tax liability.
Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) – the EITC can also provide significant benefits to those within the lower end of the middle-class income range,

RDQ’s recent post about seniors paying taxes reminded me that presently only 53% of Americans pay federal income tax.  Many of the remaining 47% are net recipients of money from the treasury.  We all know that everyone working pays payroll taxes, but should everyone pay income tax?
On the Yea side, having all citizens paying income tax would give everyone “skin in the game” when it comes to voting on tax policy and expenditures.