🎩 The 2017 Tax Cuts Are Expiring—So What’s the Plan? A Five-Year “Maybe”?!

🚨 Tax nerd alert: If you’ve been enjoying those sweet, sweet tax cuts from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), you might want to grab a stress ball (or a stiff drink). Because unless Congress does something, a whole bunch of those cuts are set to poof—disappear—at the end of 2025. 

This includes provisions like the $2,000 child tax credit (which would go back down to $1,000 per child), the nearly doubled Standard Deduction (which would drop from $30,725 to $16,525 in 2026), and the big one for small business owners….the QBI deduction of 20% of qualified business income that would potentially expire. Even if words like Standard Deduction and QBI make your eyes glaze over… we promise, you’ll care when your tax bill looks drastically different!

And what’s the latest solution from lawmakers? Drumroll, please... a five-year extension that may or may not actually happen. Yeah. That’s the plan.

⏳ Wait, Weren’t These Tax Cuts Supposed to Be Permanent?

Well, kind of. But not really. See, when Congress passed the TCJA back in 2017, they made the corporate tax cuts permanent (businesses, you’re good to go). But for individuals, those lower tax rates, bigger standard deductions, and generous estate tax exclusions? They were always temporary—because politics. And budgets. And also, chaos is fun, apparently.

Fast forward to now, and lawmakers are scrambling to figure out what to do. Should they extend the cuts? Make them permanent? Let them expire and risk nationwide panic? So far, the House Republicans are leaning toward a five-year extension—which is kind of like hitting snooze on your alarm instead of actually waking up.

💰 Why Not Just Make It Permanent?

Oh, you sweet summer child. Because it costs $5.5 trillion (yes, trillion with a "T") over the next 10 years to make these tax cuts permanent. And even Congress, which has never met a budget deficit it didn’t like, is side-eyeing that price tag.

So, to keep the bill looking less like Monopoly money, lawmakers are considering a five-year extension instead. The logic? It’s cheaper upfront (only about $2 trillion instead of $5.5 trillion) and conveniently kicks the can down the road so a future Congress can deal with it.

🔥 What Happens If They Do Nothing?

If Congress just shrugs and lets the TCJA cuts expire at the end of 2025, a lot of taxpayers could wake up in 2026 with:

✅ Higher income tax rates (yes, across multiple brackets)

✅ A smaller standard deduction (which means more folks might need to itemize)

✅ A lower estate tax exemption (so wealthy families, heads up)

✅ An increase in the child tax credit phase-out (parents, double-check your math)

For those used to their post-TCJA tax bills, the sudden change could be... unpleasant, to say the least.

🎭 So, Should We Freak Out or Nah?

Look, Congress loves to take things down to the wire, so this debate will probably rage on all the way into late 2025. The good news? A lot of folks in Washington want to extend these tax cuts—either temporarily or permanently—because making taxes higher is generally an unpopular political move.

The bad news? Well, nothing is certain yet. And tax planning for 2026 is about as clear as a foggy windshield on a winter morning.

✨ What You Can Do Right Now

✔️ Keep an eye on the news. If an extension passes, it’ll change how you approach tax planning for the next few years.

✔️ Plan for different scenarios. If you’re in a position to accelerate income, max out deductions, or take advantage of current tax breaks before they possibly disappear, do it.

✔️ Talk to your CPA (hi, hello, that’s us 👋). We love making tax chaos less chaotic.

🥸 Final Take

Congress might extend these tax cuts for five years. Or maybe forever. Or maybe they’ll do nothing and we’ll all get a lovely surprise in 2026. Whatever happens, Taxish will be here to break it all down without the boring jargon, but with plenty of coffee and tax puns.

Stay tuned. And maybe start saving for that 2026 tax bill... just in case.