Top tax stories of 2025 for financial advisors

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act will be rippling across financial plans for years to come, but that giant tax legislation represents only one aspect of a bigger trend in wealth management.

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And that’s the continuing adaptation of tax planning and other related services, technology and strategies to investment portfolios and wealth management. Despite the basic connection between those two fields and the fact that wealthy clients have benefitted from the combination of them for decades under the single roof of private banks, family offices and advisory firms with dual qualifications in taxes and wealth, some financial advisors may still refrain from addressing the impact of their work on their clients bills to Uncle Sam. 

The list below of the top tax stories from 2025 displays only some of the many rich links to planning and wealth management.

For example, the ties between tax planning and investing showed up this year in the ongoing flow of assets into ETFs, according to Matt Bucklin, founder of Section 351 ETF conversion marketing firm ExchangiFi and its websites 351exchange.com and 351conversion.com. That asset conversion tactic in itself could drive the movement of trillions of dollars in coming years from separately managed accounts. 

ETFs have always delivered greater tax efficiency than traditional funds, but new technology and regulatory shifts are enabling further innovation. Box spreads and dual ETF share classes for mutual funds are just two further instances.

Those tax-friendly investment launches and flows are boosting “these strategies that only really rich people were able to get access to before,” Bucklin said. “And now they can through the ETF structure.”

For a roundup of Financial Planning’s coverage of tax planning and its many strategies and applications in wealth management this year, scroll down the page. For last year’s top tax stories, click here.

Year-end strategy

With some possible downtime in the office during the holidays, the last few weeks of the year usually present some opportunities for planning.

READ MORE:An advisor’s year-end playbook: Client deadlines, firm strategy and finishing strong

5 retirement planning strategies for 2026

Next year’s rules

Annual IRS updates with the specific details of the many inflation-adjusted rules help advisors and their clients fill out their plans for next year.

READ MORE:Tax brackets, inflation adjustments announced for 2026

IRS ups 401(k) and IRA contribution limits for 2026

Roth 401(k) changes

Not every client gets access to a Roth option in their 401(k) plans, but high-income earners must adjust to new rules for “catch-up” contributions next year.

READ MORE:IRS finalizes regs on Roth catch-up rule

Tax break for high earners over 50 to disappear in 2026

Ready, set, Roth: How 401(k) catch-ups are changing in 2026

The OBBBA onslaught of new strategies, rules and questions

President Trump’s signature tax bill became law in July, answering an array of questions about the expiration of many parts of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. Now the main questions stem from possible regulations explaining the manifold provisions of OBBBA and whether new rules could bring savings opportunities for advisors, tax pros and their clients.

READ MORE:OBBBA after 3 months: What financial advisors should know

5 key questions to calculate the new alternative minimum tax

Some gamblers to face new tax on ‘money they never made’

Teachers don’t usually itemize — OBBBA could bring savings if they do

Don’t fear the “T” word

In a compliance-heavy field in which practitioners understandably refrain from straying outside their expertise, it’s no wonder that many advisors send clients elsewhere for tax services. In doing so, however, they may be selling their own knowledge short and missing out on business opportunities. That’s why many of the biggest names in wealth management are finding more ways to get to the “T” intersection with taxes. 

READ MORE:What’s stopping most advisors from providing tax planning?

RIAs are undergoing a tax prep schism: Here’s why

Tax advice is a no-no for many financial advisors. Tax guidance is not

How in-house tax expertise boosts firms like Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan

5 tax challenges that beg for better tools for financial advisors