With the deadline to file your taxes only a few months away, it may be a good time to start thinking about a number of key policy changes that could affect your return this year.

“It is a year with quite a bit of change,” says Andy Phillips, vice president of the Tax Institute at H&R Block. “In some situations, I, like everyone, like surprises, but an area where I don’t really like it is when it comes to my tax outcome, and so I’d encourage folks to do their homework.”

President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” which he signed into law in July, includes provisions that could impact many taxpayers. And some changes the Trump Administration has made at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) could also have an effect.

Tax experts advise people to start making their plan for filing their taxes sooner rather than later, given the changes.

Phillips recommends that people do their research and make sure they understand how the new policies in effect this tax season could impact them. He suggests trying to use various tools available online, such as H&R Block’s Tax Calculator, which allows you to input some personal information and receive an estimate of how much you might owe or how much your refund might be.

And “if you’re unsure,” he says, “don’t be afraid to speak to a tax professional.”

Here are some of the changes that could be worth considering as you work on your taxes this year.

The IRS’s free Direct File system isn’t available anymore

The Trump Administration confirmed in November that IRS Direct File, the online system that allowed people to file their tax returns without paying a fee, won’t be available for the 2026 filing season. 

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said at the time that the program, which was introduced while former President Joe Biden was in office, “wasn’t used very much” and “we think that the private sector can do a better job.” Experts, however, have said that Direct File helped make the process cheaper and easier for many taxpayers.

“It’s kind of unfortunate because one thing that we have in the United States is excessive complexity in our tax system, so it’s unrealistic to expect someone to sit down with [a] paper and pencil and just fill out their tax returns, so people usually have to rely on either software that they pay for or tax professionals,” says Kimberly Clausing, the Eric M. Zolt Chair in Tax Law and Policy at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law and former lead economist in the Biden Administration’s Office of Tax Policy.

Clausing advises people who previously relied on IRS Direct File to make a new plan for filing their taxes this year—whether that be researching the free options available to them, preparing themselves to purchase tax filing software, or seeking the help of a tax professional.

There are other programs that taxpayers can use to file their taxes, and some offer free or low-cost options for people with simple tax situations, according to Clausing. IRS Free File, for instance, is available at no cost for taxpayers who earn an Adjusted Gross Income of $84,000 or less. 

H&R Block Online Free Edition also allows eligible taxpayers—those with “simple tax situations”—to use its services for free. According to H&R Block, about 52% of taxpayers are eligible to use its free service.

The cap for the state and local tax deduction is higher

Under Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” the cap for the state and local tax deduction is increasing. The deduction, often called the SALT deduction, allows taxpayers to deduct certain state and local taxes from their federal taxable income by itemizing their deductions. Previously, the amount that could be deducted was capped at $10,000. The “Big Beautiful Bill” is now raising that figure to $40,000—for some taxpayers.

The increase in the cap starts to phase out for those who earn more than $500,000, according to Clausing. And for taxpayers whose income exceeds $600,000, their SALT deduction cap will remain at $10,000.

The new cap may mean that it could be more beneficial for some taxpayers to itemize, rather than just claiming the standard deduction, Phillips says. 

Clausing says that people who earn between $100,000 to $600,000 and have high state and local tax payments will likely benefit the most from the new SALT deduction cap.

For those considering itemizing this year, Phillips recommends thinking about what documents you’d need to collect to do so. The IRS notes some that are useful for those who itemize their deductions on its website, including home mortgage and property tax records and donations to charity.

Some taxpayers can deduct tips and overtime pay

Eligible workers who earned tips and overtime pay could be able to claim deductions enacted under the “Big Beautiful Bill” this tax season.

People in certain occupations that the IRS listed as regularly receiving tips on or prior to Dec. 31, 2024 can deduct as much as $25,000 in what the agency calls “qualified tips,” meaning “voluntary cash or charged tips received from customers or through tip sharing.”

And taxpayers who worked overtime in 2025 may be able to claim a deduction for qualified overtime pay of up to $12,500 if they’re single, and $25,000 if they’re filing jointly with their spouse.

“If I were talking to someone and I didn’t know their circumstances, I would suggest that they look to see if any of these new benefits apply to them because you’d want to be aware of that,” Clausing says. “If you were, for instance, a waitress with tip income or a production worker that works overtime, you’d want to know that those things are out there so that you can take advantage of them.”

An extra senior deduction is available

Eligible seniors—so taxpayers who are 65 or older on or before the last day of the taxable year—could also be able to claim an additional deduction of $6,000 this tax season, another change introduced under the “Big Beautiful Bill.”

The IRS notes that deduction is on top of the extra standard deduction seniors were already able to claim under previously existing law. The new deduction, which is available both for taxpayers itemizing their deductions or not, starts to phase out for those who earn more than $75,000, or $150,000 for people filing jointly.

Thousands of IRS staffers have been laid off

Clausing points out that the Trump Administration’s recent cuts to the IRS could also affect taxpayer services. The IRS laid off thousands of workers in early 2025, as part of the mass layoffs that were led by the Department of Government Efficiency. At the time, tax experts raised concerns that the cuts could lead to disruptions in the upcoming tax season.

“There’s not going to be as many people answering the phone this year; they laid off a lot of workers and other workers have quit due to the way that federal employees have been treated,” Clausing says. “That’s going to make it a little harder to get your questions answered or to get your returns processed in a timely fashion.”