TCJA Expiration 2026: Every Tax Provision That Sunsets and What Replaces It
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 was the biggest tax overhaul in a generation. It was also designed to self-destruct. Every major individual provision had a December 31, 2025 expiration date baked in. Congress chose to let the clock run — and then scrambled to stop it. Here's exactly what happened.
What the TCJA Actually Did (A Quick Refresher)
Back in December 2017, Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. It slashed individual tax rates across nearly every bracket. It roughly doubled the standard deduction. It killed personal exemptions. It capped the state and local tax (SALT) deduction at $10,000. It doubled the child tax credit to $2,000. And it created a brand-new 20% deduction for pass-through business income.
The corporate tax rate cut — from 35% to 21% — was made permanent. But the individual stuff? That was all temporary. Set to expire after 2025. The idea was that a future Congress would deal with it later.
Well, later arrived.
What Was Supposed to Happen on January 1, 2026
Without any legislative action, here's what would've hit your tax return this year:
- Tax rates would have reverted to the pre-TCJA structure: 10%, 15%, 25%, 28%, 33%, 35%, 39.6%. That 12% bracket you're in? It'd be 15%. The 22% bracket? Back to 25%.
- The standard deduction would have dropped from about $15,000 for a single filer to roughly $8,300. Married filing jointly would've gone from $30,000 to about $16,600.
- Personal exemptions would have returned — roughly $5,300 per person. That partially offsets the lower standard deduction, but the math doesn't work out evenly for most people.
- The SALT cap would have vanished entirely. Your state and local tax deduction would be uncapped again. Good news for New Yorkers. Meaningless for Texans.
- The child tax credit would have dropped from $2,000 to $1,000 per kid. The income phase-out thresholds would have dropped too.
- AMT exemptions would have shrunk. Millions more filers would've been caught by the Alternative Minimum Tax.
- The estate tax exemption would have dropped from roughly $13.6 million to about $7 million per person.
- The Section 199A pass-through deduction — the 20% QBI deduction — would have vanished completely.
For a single filer earning $75,000, the combined effect of reverting rates and losing the higher standard deduction would've meant roughly $2,000 to $3,000 more in federal tax. For a married couple with two kids at $150,000, closer to $4,000 to $5,000 more.
That's not hypothetical. Those are the numbers the CBO published.
Enter the One Big Beautiful Bill
Congress didn't let it happen. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, passed in 2025, extended most TCJA provisions — with some modifications. It wasn't a clean extension. Some things got better. Some got tweaked. And the debate over SALT nearly killed the whole bill.
Here's the provision-by-provision breakdown.
The Master Table: Pre-TCJA vs. TCJA vs. Sunset vs. Actual 2026
| Provision | Pre-TCJA (2017) | Under TCJA (2018–2025) | If Sunset (No OBBB) | Actual 2026 (OBBB) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top tax rate | 39.6% | 37% | 39.6% | 37% |
| Standard deduction (single) | $6,350 | $12,000→$14,600 | ~$8,300 | $15,000 |
| Standard deduction (MFJ) | $12,700 | $24,000→$29,200 | ~$16,600 | $30,000 |
| Personal exemption | $4,050/person | $0 | ~$5,300/person | $0 |
| Child Tax Credit | $1,000/child | $2,000/child | $1,000/child | $2,000/child |
| CTC phase-out start (MFJ) | $110,000 | $400,000 | $110,000 | $400,000 |
| SALT deduction cap | Unlimited | $10,000 | Unlimited | $40,000 |
| AMT exemption (single) | $54,300 | $73,600→$85,700 | ~$60,000 | ~$88,100 |
| Estate tax exemption | $5.49M | $11.18M→$13.61M | ~$7M | ~$13.99M |
| Section 199A (QBI deduction) | Didn't exist | 20% of QBI | Gone | 20% of QBI |
| Mortgage interest cap | $1M of debt | $750K of debt | $1M | $750K |
| Misc. itemized deductions | Allowed (>2% AGI) | Suspended | Restored | Suspended |
Green means the OBBB preserved the TCJA benefit. Amber means it changed. The SALT line is the interesting one — it didn't go back to unlimited, but $40,000 is a lot more breathing room than $10,000.
Tax Brackets: What You're Actually Paying
The 2026 brackets are the TCJA rates with inflation adjustments. Here's the full picture for single filers.
| Rate | 2026 Bracket (Single) | What It Would've Been (Sunset) |
|---|---|---|
| 10% | $0 – $11,925 | $0 – $10,750 (10%) |
| 12% | $11,926 – $48,475 | $10,751 – $43,725 (15%) |
| 22% | $48,476 – $103,350 | $43,726 – $106,150 (25%) |
| 24% | $103,351 – $197,300 | $106,151 – $203,150 (28%) |
| 32% | $197,301 – $250,525 | $203,151 – $254,050 (33%) |
| 35% | $250,526 – $626,350 | $254,051 – $457,600 (35%) |
| 37% | Over $626,350 | Over $457,600 (39.6%) |
Notice the 12% vs 15% difference. That's not a rounding error. For someone earning $48,000, the difference between paying 12% and 15% on a chunk of their income is real money — about $1,100 a year. And that's before you factor in the standard deduction difference.
Want to see exactly where your income falls? Run it through our 2026 US tax calculator.
The Dollar Impact at Every Income Level
We ran the numbers. Here's what a single filer, standard deduction, would have paid under the sunset scenario vs. what they're actually paying in 2026.
| Gross Income | 2026 Tax (OBBB) | Tax if TCJA Sunset | You Saved |
|---|---|---|---|
| $40,000 | $2,720 | $4,394 | $1,674 |
| $75,000 | $8,512 | $11,688 | $3,176 |
| $100,000 | $14,012 | $17,938 | $3,926 |
| $150,000 | $26,012 | $31,538 | $5,526 |
| $250,000 | $52,832 | $60,838 | $8,006 |
At every income level, the OBBB saved taxpayers real money compared to the sunset scenario. The biggest absolute savings go to higher earners — that's just how progressive brackets work. But proportionally, the $40,000 earner saved 38% off their would-be tax increase. That's not nothing.
The Standard Deduction — The Quiet Hero
Most of the savings don't come from rate cuts. They come from the standard deduction.
Think about it. If you earn $75,000 as a single filer, your taxable income under the sunset scenario would have been $75,000 minus ~$8,300 = $66,700. Under OBBB, it's $75,000 minus $15,000 = $60,000. That's $6,700 less in taxable income before you even look at rates. At a 22% marginal rate, that's about $1,474 in savings just from the deduction difference alone.
This is why roughly 88% of filers take the standard deduction. For most people, it's just a better deal than itemizing.
The SALT Compromise
The SALT deduction cap was the single most contentious provision in the entire OBBB debate. GOP members from New York, New Jersey, and California nearly tanked the bill over it.
Under TCJA, your combined state income tax + property tax deduction was capped at $10,000. For someone in Manhattan paying $12,000 in state income tax and $15,000 in property tax, that's $17,000 in deductions just... gone.
The OBBB raised the cap to $40,000. That covers the vast majority of filers in high-tax states. Only those with very high state taxes — typically earners above $500,000 in states like California or New York — will still bump against it. For the full breakdown, see our SALT deduction guide.
Personal Exemptions: Still Dead
Here's one that confuses people. Before the TCJA, you got a personal exemption — about $4,050 per person in 2017 — on top of your standard deduction. Family of four? That's $16,200 in exemptions alone, plus the standard deduction.
The TCJA killed personal exemptions entirely. Set them to $0. The logic was that the much larger standard deduction more than compensated.
Does it? For a single filer, yes. The $15,000 standard deduction is higher than the old ~$8,300 standard deduction + ~$5,300 exemption = ~$13,600. You're ahead by about $1,400.
For a married couple with three kids? The old math was ~$16,600 standard deduction + 5 × ~$5,300 exemptions = ~$43,100. The 2026 math is $30,000 standard deduction + $0 exemptions = $30,000. That's $13,100 less in deductions. The higher child tax credit ($2,000 vs $1,000 per kid) fills some of that gap, but large families can still come out behind on this specific math.
What Didn't Change (Was Already Permanent)
Not everything in the TCJA was temporary. These provisions were permanent from day one:
- Corporate tax rate: 21%. That was always permanent. Still is.
- Chained CPI for inflation adjustments: The switch from regular CPI to chained CPI for adjusting brackets was permanent. This means brackets grow slightly slower than they otherwise would — a tiny stealth tax increase every year.
- Individual mandate penalty: Reduced to $0 permanently. The mandate technically exists; the penalty doesn't.
- Roth recharacterization elimination: You can't undo a Roth conversion anymore. That's permanent.
What This Means for Your 2026 Return
If you filed in 2025, your 2026 return won't feel dramatically different. The rates are the same structure, the standard deduction is similar. The biggest change most people will notice is the SALT cap increase — if you're in a high-tax state and you itemize, you may be getting more back this year.
If you're self-employed or own a pass-through business, the Section 199A deduction surviving is a big deal. That 20% QBI deduction would have vanished entirely. For a small business owner earning $200,000 in qualified business income, that's $40,000 in deductions — $9,600 in tax savings at the 24% bracket. That's real.
And if you have kids: the $2,000 CTC is still there. It was going to drop to $1,000. For a family with three children, that's $3,000 a year. Not life-changing for high earners. Genuinely significant for a family earning $50,000. See our 2026 Child Tax Credit guide for the full breakdown.
The Bottom Line
The TCJA didn't fully expire. The OBBB caught most of it. Your 2026 tax rates, standard deduction, child tax credit, and pass-through deduction all survived. The SALT cap got raised to $40,000 — a real compromise.
But "the TCJA was extended" isn't the whole story. The personal exemption is still gone. The mortgage interest cap stayed at $750k. Miscellaneous deductions are still dead. And the whole thing was expensive — the CBO estimates the OBBB's tax provisions add significantly to the deficit over the next decade.
For your wallet right now, though? You're paying less than you would have. Use the US tax calculator to see exactly how much.
Sources: Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (P.L. 115-97), One Big Beautiful Bill Act, IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-19 (2026 inflation adjustments), Congressional Budget Office TCJA sunset analysis, Joint Committee on Taxation revenue estimates. All tax calculations via FiscalFold using official IRS parameters.
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