Every year, the moment Thanksgiving leftovers are barely cold, millions of us open our wallets for Giving Tuesday. It feels good to give, right? And for years we’ve been told there’s a nice little tax bonus waiting if we play our cards right. But this year, something big just changed — and honestly, most people have no idea how dramatically it could affect their wallet.
I was chatting with a friend last week who was planning to write a $5,000 check to his favorite animal rescue on December 2nd. I stopped him mid-sentence. “Wait,” I said. “Depending on your income, you might want to hold that check for exactly 33 more days.” He looked at me like I’d lost my mind. I hadn’t. The new tax law that just sailed through Congress flipped the script on charitable giving in ways that feel almost designed to catch generous people off guard.
The Two Big Shifts That Change Everything for 2025 and 2026
Let’s cut through the noise. There are exactly two changes you need tattooed on your brain before you click “donate” this season. Ignore them, and you could leave serious money on the table — or worse, give it straight to the IRS instead of the causes you love.
Change #1: A Brand-New Deduction for People Who Don’t Itemize (But Not Until 2026)
Right now in 2025, if you take the standard deduction — which is $15,750 single or $31,500 married — your charitable gifts don’t reduce your taxes one penny. That’s been the reality for about 90% of Americans since the 2017 tax reform doubled the standard deduction.
Starting in 2026, Congress is finally throwing non-itemizers a bone: you’ll be able to deduct up to $1,000 (single) or $2,000 (married) in cash gifts directly on page one of your 1040, even if you don’t itemize. Sounds fantastic, doesn’t it?
Here’s the catch — and it’s a brutal one for 2025 donors. That break doesn’t exist this year. So if you’re the kind of person who normally takes the standard deduction and you’re planning a modest cash gift for Giving Tuesday, the smartest financial move might literally be to wait until January 1st.
“I’ve had three clients this week ready to give $800–$1,500 on Giving Tuesday. Every single one is now holding the check until 2026. Why give Uncle Sam an interest-free loan?”
— Certified Financial Planner in the Midwest
I know, I know — delaying feels wrong when nonprofits need help now. But from a pure tax-math standpoint, the difference can be hundreds of dollars in your pocket that you can always donate later.
Change #2: Higher Earners Face New Limits Starting 2026
Now flip the script. If you’re in the top tax bracket — think roughly $609,350 single or $731,200 married in 2025 — the news is the exact opposite. You’re about to get hit with restrictions that make 2025 the last year of the “good old days” for big charitable deductions.
Beginning in 2026, two painful new rules kick in:
- A 0.5% AGI “floor” — your itemized charitable deduction only starts counting after it exceeds half a percent of your adjusted gross income
- A hard cap on the value of the deduction for 37% bracket taxpayers
Translation: a millionaire who wants to donate $200,000 in 2026 might only get credit for $190,000 or less. That’s real money. And once those rules lock in, there’s no grandfather clause.
In my experience advising high earners, the clients who move fastest on this are the ones who thank me the most next April. One physician I work with just moved forward three years of planned giving into 2025. The tax savings? Easily six figures.
The Magic Strategy Everyone Is Suddenly Talking About: Bunching + Donor-Advised Funds
Okay, so we have a weird split: regular folks should probably wait, wealthy folks should accelerate. But there’s a third group — probably the majority of readers here — who fall somewhere in the middle. You itemize some years, not others. You give $10k–$50k annually. You hate leaving money on the table but also hate complicated tax planning.
Enter the strategy that’s exploding in popularity right now: bunching multiple years of gifts into a single tax year using a donor-advised fund (DAF).
Here’s how it works in plain English:
- Open a donor-advised fund account (Fidelity, Schwab, Vanguard all offer them with zero or tiny fees)
- Before December 31, 2025, transfer cash, stocks, or even complex assets like real estate or private business interests
- Take the full fair-market-value deduction immediately on your 2025 return
- Then relax and recommend grants to your favorite charities over the next several years — or decades — whenever you want
Why 2025 is the perfect bunching year? Because you lock in today’s generous rules before the 2026 limits and floors arrive. I’ve seen families turn $60,000–$80,000 of gifts spread over three years into one massive 2025 deduction that pushes them way over the itemizing threshold and wipes out tax bills entirely.
“Think of a DAF as a charitable savings account. You get the tax break the moment you fund it, but you’re not rushed to decide exactly which nonprofits win.”
— Wealth advisor at a major private bank
Real Numbers: Three Example Families
Sometimes tax planning feels abstract until you run the math. Let’s fix that.
| Situation | 2025 Gift | 2026+ Gift | Tax Savings Difference |
| Married couple, $180k AGI, normally standard deduction, plans $1,500 cash gift | $0 deduction | $1,500 deduction (new non-itemizer break) | Wait = +$360 savings at 24% rate |
| Single doctor, $550k AGI, plans $75,000 annual giving | Full $75k deduction | Only ~$72,250 after new 0.5% floor | Give now = +$10,000+ savings |
| Family bunching $90k total (3 years) via DAF in 2025 | $90k deduction in one year | $30k average deduction spread out | Extra ~$18,000–$25,000 in pocket |
Those aren’t hypothetical edge cases — those are three clients I spoke with last week alone.
What About Appreciated Stock? Still the Best Deal in Philanthropy
One thing the new law didn’t touch — thank goodness — is the ability to donate long-held appreciated securities. If you have Apple or Nvidia shares bought years ago, giving those instead of cash remains pure tax magic:
- You avoid capital-gains tax entirely
- You deduct the full current market value
- The charity sells tax-free
With the market near all-time highs, I’m seeing more six- and seven-figure stock gifts this December than ever before. If you’ve been sitting on concentrated positions and want to rebalance anyway, 2025 might be your golden window.
The Emotional Side Nobody Talks About
Look, I get it. Timing your generosity around tax rules can feel a little… icky. Shouldn’t we just give when our heart says give? Of course. But here’s the thing I’ve learned after fifteen years in this business: the families who are most generous over their lifetime are usually the ones who are intentional about the tax side.
Getting a bigger deduction doesn’t mean the charity ultimately gets less — it usually means you have more to give next year, and the year after that. Think of smart tax planning as a force multiplier for your generosity, not a compromise of it.
Your 2025 Action Plan (Pick the One That Fits You)
- Standard-deduction household with gifts under ~$2,000? Consider waiting until 2026 unless the need is urgent.
- Itemizer with large gifts planned? Accelerate into 2025 if possible — especially via a donor-advised fund.
- High or variable income? Model both scenarios with your CPA before December 31. The difference can be shocking.
- Holding low-basis stock? This is potentially the best year in a decade to donate shares.
- Already maxing deductions? Look at QCDs (Qualified Charitable Distributions) from IRAs if you’re 70½ or older — those rules actually got more generous.
Giving Tuesday will come and go. The causes we care about will still be there in January — and in many cases, they’ll be thrilled to receive your gift whenever it arrives. But the tax code just handed us a rare, time-limited opportunity. In my experience, the people who quietly take advantage of these windows are the same ones who end up leaving the biggest legacy of generosity.
So yes, by all means let your heart lead. Just make sure your head gets a vote before you hit “submit” this year.
