This year carries even more urgency than usual, as new limits from the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) reset several key numbers for 2026, like SALT caps, the standard deduction, and retirement contribution limits— some of which are only changed for a limited time. Any strategy built on last year's thinking won't lower your tax bill like it did before.

The actions that change your outcome— retirement contributions, entity elections, income timing, and expense tracking— have hard deadlines that you need to account for before December 31st.

An IRS audit is a review of a person's or organization's books, accounts, and financial records to make sure the information and amount reported on a tax return are correct. Just because you receive a tax refund, it doesn’t mean you're safe from audit selection, and amending your tax return doesn't remove the original one from the selection pool.