Taxpayers in the middle-income range face an evolving set of challenges, and opportunities, as new deductions, credit changes, and advanced planning issues emerge for 2025–2026. This course delivers a deeper, strategy-driven exploration of the rules that most commonly impact individuals with wages, tips, side-income activity, childcare costs, retirement accounts, and education-related spending.

Learners will gain a refined understanding of how to protect deductions, anticipate tax consequences, and apply sophisticated planning concepts with confidence. This includes the new overtime and tip deductions, the upcoming changes to charitable contribution rules, IRA basis complications, expanded 529 plan flexibility, updated educator expense treatment, and key considerations for rental property sales and state filing differences.

Though some themes overlap with broader middle-income planning courses, this session goes further by breaking down the nuances, limitations, and “gotchas” that practitioners must navigate in real-world scenarios. It stands fully on its own and requires no prior course participation.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this course, learners will be able to:

1. Apply the new overtime and tip deduction rules, including qualification standards, phaseouts, and documentation requirements.
2. Use 2026 charitable contribution changes to guide clients on standard vs. itemized deduction strategies.
3. Identify IRA basis and Roth conversion pitfalls to prevent taxable surprises during withdrawals or conversions.
4. Leverage expanded 529 plan qualified expenses, including CE fees, K–12 materials, and credentialing programs.
5. Recognize tax implications of rental property sales, including depreciation recapture, Section 121 eligibility, and realistic 1031 expectations.

This course counts for 2 Hours of Federal Tax Law for IRS Continuing Education. 

About the Presenter:

Jason Dinesen (EA, LPA) is a tax nerd, entrepreneur, tax expert, and a well-known presenter of continuing education courses. 

Known for his sharp tax interpretations, he is one of the quickest to bring the analysis of the latest tax updates and IRS guidance to the professional community. Jason has coached over 200,000 accounting, tax, and HR professionals on various topics of accounting, individual taxation, corporate taxation, professional ethics, and much more.