A version of this article first appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.
Lawyers to the wealthy are advising clients to ramp up their charitable giving this year to take advantage of tax advantages that will decline in 2026.
President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax-and-spending bill included provisions that reduce the tax benefits of charitable giving for high earners. Since the provisions don’t take effect until next year, advisors to wealthy donors are recommending they frontload or “bunch” their giving this year to take advantage of tax benefits.
“If you’re thinking about making a big gift, or you know you have a charity that you want to be supportive of over the next couple years, and you got the cash right now, this is the time make a big gift,” said Dan Griffith, director of wealth strategy at Huntington Private Bank.
The bill handicaps top-earning donors in two ways. First, starting in 2026, donors who itemize will only be able to deduct charitable contributions in excess of 0.5% of their adjusted gross income (AGI). With this floor, a household with an AGI of $400,000 that makes $10,000 of charitable donations in 2026 will not be able to deduct the first $2,000 in giving, according to Griffith.
