With new rules on the horizon, year-end is a critical window for charitable giving. In this blog, we dive into tax-efficient giving strategies (bunching, donor-advised funds, qualified charitable distributions, gifting appreciated assets, etc.) and explain how CPAs can use Hive Tax’s AI tax research and planning tools to accelerate research, model scenarios, and deliver strategic advice faster to clients. If you want to close the year strong and set your clients up for 2026 changes, read on.
Why Charitable Giving Matters in Year-End Planning
Charitable giving isn’t just philanthropy — for many clients, it’s one of the few levers left for meaningful tax planning. Given that fewer taxpayers now itemize (thanks to the high standard deduction), the decisions around whether, how much, and when to gift become more consequential than ever.
On top of that, the recently passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) introduces changes that will affect charitable deduction rules starting in 2026. For example, beginning in 2026, only “allowable contributions” exceeding 0.5% of AGI will be deductible for itemizers. That means your planning now can help clients anticipate and optimize before the new regime kicks in.
Given the complexity and evolving rules, CPAs need tools that help with not just research but scenario modeling, sensitivity analysis, drafting plans, and client communications. That’s where AI tax research and planning comes in — especially a platform like Hive Tax.
Four Smart Year-End Charitable Giving Strategies for Clients
Here are some of the most effective strategies your clients should consider — and how to analyze them.
| Strategy | Key Benefit | Things to Watch / Constraints |
| Bunching / “Super-Year” Contributions | Clients who are close to the standard deduction threshold may not itemize in a typical year. By aggregating 2–3 years’ worth of giving into one year, they may exceed the standard deduction and take full advantage of deductions. | Be careful with phaseouts, AMT interactions, state tax implications, and the timing of deductions. |
| Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs) | A client can contribute to a DAF now (take the deduction now) but grant to charities later. This gives flexibility over timing and allows some tax-efficient investing inside the DAF. | Ensure the client understands that once the gift is into the DAF, it’s irrevocable. Also check payout rules, excise taxes (if private foundation features apply), and state law rules. |
| Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs) | For clients age 70½+ (or under the new RMD rules, possibly 73+ depending on the legislation), they can give directly from their IRA (up to $100,000) to satisfy RMDs and reduce taxable income. | The donation must go directly from the IRA to the charity (not via client withdrawal). The charity must be eligible (public charity), and check that QCD rules don’t conflict with IRA deduction rules. |
| Donating Appreciated Assets (Stock, Real Estate, Crypto) | Rather than selling appreciated securities and paying capital gains, the client can donate such assets and claim a deduction for the fair market value (subject to 30% or 20% of AGI limits, depending on type) and avoid the gain. | Verify basis, holding period, valuation, documentary support, and any limits under AGI or section 170 rules. Watch for state-level limitations. |
Another useful variation (especially in markets with unrealized losses) is to sell loss-positioned investments first, realize the loss, deduct it (subject to tax rules), then donate cash — lowering the AGI basis before applying the charitable deduction limit.
Finally, be sure clients maintain good documentation (written acknowledgments from charities for gifts over $250, appraisals for noncash gifts, etc.).
How Hive Tax AI Can Help You Plan and Advise Efficiently
To deliver high-value charitable giving advice strategically — not just tactical checklists — CPAs need powerful tools. Hive Tax offers an integrated AI tax research + planning assistant that can accelerate your workflow and help you confidently guide clients.
Why Hive Tax Is a Fit for CPAs
- Speedy, accurate research with citations. Hive’s AI tax research assistant retrieves tax law, IRS guidance, court rulings, and state statutes quickly and presents them with inline citations — letting you verify and build trust with clients.
- Scenario modeling and planning insights. Hive’s planning assistant supports alternative “what-if” modeling and turns complex inputs into holistic tax plans tailored to each client.
- Agentic workflows. Hive’s architecture uses multiple AI models and agentic workflows (i.e. it orchestrates tasks autonomously) to route simpler queries to fast models and complex ones to deeper models — all under the hood.
- Integration into your advisory process. Instead of switching between separate research libraries and planning spreadsheets, you can embed research, scenario outputs, memos, and client-facing drafts inside the same environment.
- Timely insights on new law changes. For example, Hive has already flagged and generated summaries for the OBBBA changes (such as the 0.5% floor on deductions starting 2026) in its research layer.
In tax-practice forums, some professionals already report replacing more expensive legacy research subscriptions with Hive. As one user put it:
“We end up with hivetax.ai because they have updated fed and state tax data and they also offer tax planning tool at one subscription.”
How You Might Use Hive Tax in Year-End Giving Projects
- Scan for rule changes. Ask Hive to identify new law changes that affect charitable giving (e.g. OBBBA, limits, floor thresholds) and get summaries with citations.
- Compare strategies side-by-side. Run multiple models (e.g. donate via DAF vs direct gift of stock vs QCD) and compare tax outcomes, AGI effects, carryforward windows, and sensitivity to changes.
- Draft client memos. Use research outputs to generate draft advisory memos or decision memos for clients, saving significant time in writing and review.
- Check state-level complications. When clients are multi-state or travel, ask Hive to flag state-by-state limitations or extra rules around charitable deductions.
- Build firm playbooks. Use Hive’s AI workflows to standardize the charitable-planning deliverables (checklists, what-if templates, client communications) to scale across client teams.
In short: Hive helps you think, model, and communicate efficiently, instead of wasting hours on lookup and formatting.
Timeliness & Things to Watch in 2025 (and Looking Ahead to 2026)
- Act before year-end. Many strategies require the gift to be “completed” by December 31. You may need to coordinate with clients well in advance, especially for noncash gifts requiring appraisal or legal transfers.
- Mind OBBBA’s 2026 impact. Under the new rules, only contributions above 0.5% of a donor’s AGI will be deductible. That means some small or mid-level givers who used to deduct more may see reduced benefit — underscoring the value of front-loading or bunching in 2025.
- Standard-deduction non-itemizer deduction. Starting in 2026, non-itemizers may be allowed a deduction up to $1,000 (or $2,000 for married couples) for certain charitable gifts (excluding DAF/private foundation contributions).
- Watch AGI-based limits. Even before 2026, rules limit cash gifts to 60% of AGI (30% or 20% for assets). After 2026, the “allowable contributions” floor may change which gifts qualify for deduction.
- Documentation & substantiation risk is rising. With more scrutiny, especially on noncash gifts, make sure clients have proper appraisals, acknowledgments, and contemporaneous substantiation.
- Coordinate with overall tax and estate plans. Charitable gifting is just one lever. Consider interplay with retirement plans, estate tax exposure, and philanthropic legacy goals.
Final Thoughts & Next Steps
Charitable giving remains one of the few flexible levers CPAs can pull late in the year to deliver real value to clients. But with the tax landscape shifting (thanks to OBBBA and other reforms), it’s essential to be proactive, model outcomes, and tailor strategies at a deeper level than ever before.
By integrating an AI tax research and planning tool like Hive Tax, you can speed up research, focus more time on analysis and strategy, and deliver polished plans to clients faster. That means better client outcomes, more confidence in complex scenarios, and more capacity to