South Florida runs on service work. The restaurants along Las Olas, the hotels on the beach, the salons and barbershops in every plaza, the valets, the bartenders, the rideshare and delivery drivers who keep moving after everyone else has gone home — a huge share of the paychecks in Broward County include tips, overtime, or both. So when Congress passed a law promising “no tax on tips” and “no tax on overtime,” a lot of people in our community heard it and understandably asked: does this mean my tips are tax-free now?

The honest answer is: not exactly — but there is a genuine, valuable tax break here, and if you earn tips or overtime you should understand it. The 2025 law commonly called the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) created two new federal income-tax deductions: one for qualified tips and one for qualified overtime pay. They apply to the 2025 through 2028 tax years, and you can claim them whether or not you itemize.¹ A deduction lowers the amount of income the federal government taxes — it is not the same as your money never being touched, and it does not remove Social Security and Medicare taxes. But for a working family in South Florida, it can still mean a meaningfully smaller tax bill or a bigger refund.

This guide walks through both deductions in plain English: how much you can deduct, who qualifies, which tips and which overtime actually count, what the breaks specifically do not do, and the new reporting rules that make 2026 different from 2025. Throughout, the figures come from the IRS’s own guidance on the law.

1. Two new deductions — and one big misunderstanding

The single most important thing to understand is the difference between a paycheck that is never taxed and income that you can later deduct. “No tax on tips” is the headline; a tip deduction is the reality. Your employer still reports your tips and overtime, still withholds taxes from your checks during the year, and those amounts still count as wages for Social Security and Medicare. What the new law lets you do is subtract qualifying tips and qualifying overtime from your income when you file your federal return — which reduces the income the IRS taxes and, for most workers, produces a larger refund.¹

Because both breaks are structured as “above-the-line” deductions, you can take them on top of the standard deduction — you do not have to itemize, and the vast majority of service workers don’t. That’s unusual and generous: many tax breaks force you to choose between them and the standard deduction, but these do not.¹

2. “No tax on tips”: how it actually works

For tax years 2025 through 2028, workers in occupations that customarily and regularly received tips on or before December 31, 2024 can deduct their qualified tips, up to $25,000 per year.¹⁵ The deduction is available to employees who receive tips reported on a Form W-2 and to self-employed and gig workers who report tips on a 1099 or directly on their return — so a banquet server, a barber renting a chair, and a rideshare driver can all potentially qualify.²

Two limits shape how much you actually get:

• The $25,000 annual cap. That is the most in tips you can deduct in a year, no matter how much you earned in tips.¹
• The income phase-out. Once your modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) rises above $150,000 (single) or $300,000 (married filing jointly), the deduction begins to shrink — by $100 for every $1,000 of income over the threshold.¹ Most tipped workers are comfortably under these limits, so they get the full benefit.

There are a couple of eligibility rules worth flagging. You need a valid Social Security number to claim the deduction, and if you’re married you generally must file jointly to take it.¹ And for the self-employed, the tip deduction can’t exceed your net income from the business in which you earned the tips — you can’t use it to create a loss.¹

“For most servers, bartenders, and stylists in South Florida, the full $25,000 tip deduction is on the table — the income limits are far above what the typical tipped worker earns.”

3. Which jobs — and which tips — qualify

Not every tip counts, and not every job is on the list. The IRS published an official list of occupations that “customarily and regularly” receive tips — more than six dozen roles spanning food and beverage, personal care and beauty, hospitality, recreation, and transportation.⁵ Familiar South Florida examples include servers, bartenders, bussers, hosts, delivery drivers, barbers and hairstylists, nail technicians, estheticians, massage therapists, valets, bellhops, housekeepers, tour guides, and taxi and rideshare drivers.

Just as important is which tips qualify. A “qualified tip” must be paid voluntarily by the customer — cash, a tip added to a card, or your share of a tip pool. Amounts the customer had no choice about do not count.⁵

The line that matters most is voluntary vs. mandatory: a customer choosing to tip qualifies; a charge they had to pay generally does not.⁵

Usually counts as a qualified tip	Usually does not count
Cash tips left by the customer	Automatic gratuity added to large-party checks
Tips added to a credit or debit card	Mandatory “service charges” or event fees
Your share from a tip-pool or tip-out	Banquet/room-service charges kept by the house
Tips through a delivery or rideshare app	Tips paid in cryptocurrency or digital assets

4. “No tax on overtime”: only the premium counts

The overtime deduction is where the details trip people up most. For 2025 through 2028, eligible workers can deduct qualified overtime pay — up to $12,500 if single and $25,000 if married filing jointly.¹ But “qualified overtime” is narrower than most people expect: it’s only the premium portion — the extra “half” of time-and-a-half — required by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for hours worked beyond 40 in a week.⁶

Here’s what that means in practice. Say you earn $20 an hour and work 10 overtime hours. Your overtime rate is $30 an hour (time-and-a-half), so you’re paid $300 for those hours. Of that, $200 is your regular rate and $100 is the “premium” half. Only that $100 is deductible — not the full $300.⁶

You can claim both deductions in the same year if you have both kinds of income.¹

The two deductions at a glance	No tax on tips	No tax on overtime
Annual cap	$25,000	$12,500 single / $25,000 joint
What qualifies	Voluntary tips in a listed occupation	The FLSA “premium half” of overtime
Income phase-out	Begins above $150,000 single / $300,000 joint MAGI
Years available	2025 through 2028
Itemizing required?	No — available on top of the standard deduction

One more catch: overtime paid for reasons other than the federal FLSA rule generally doesn’t qualify. Extra pay required only by a state law, a union contract, or your employer’s own policy — or “overtime” for a salaried employee the FLSA treats as exempt — falls outside the deduction.⁶ The break is specifically tied to the federal time-and-a-half-after-40-hours standard.

5. What these deductions do not do

Because the headlines oversold it, it’s worth being clear about the limits. Understanding these keeps you from over-counting your benefit — or making a financial decision based on a break that’s smaller than it sounds.

• They don’t make your paycheck tax-free. Your employer still withholds federal income tax during the year; you claim the deduction when you file, which is what produces the refund or lower balance due.⁴
• They don’t remove Social Security and Medicare (FICA). Tips and overtime remain fully subject to payroll taxes. This is income-tax relief only.⁶
• They’re federal only. The deduction reduces federal taxable income. In many states that still leaves state income tax on the money — but Florida has no state income tax, so South Florida workers don’t face that reduction.⁶
• They’re temporary. Under current law the deductions apply only to 2025 through 2028. Unless Congress extends them, they disappear after that.¹

6. The 2026 reporting change every worker should know

2025 and 2026 are handled a little differently, and this is where good records pay off. For the 2025 tax year, the IRS provided transition relief: employers weren’t required to separately break out qualified tips and overtime on every form yet, and the agency issued guidance to help workers claim the deductions anyway.³

Starting with the 2026 tax year, the rules tighten. The IRS is updating Forms W-2, 1099-NEC, 1099-MISC, and 1099-K to include separate reporting of qualified tips and qualified overtime, and beginning in 2026 only amounts that are separately reported on those forms (or reported by an employee on Form 4137) will be deductible.³⁴ In plain terms: if your tips or overtime aren’t properly broken out on your paperwork, you could lose the deduction — so it matters that your employer reports them correctly, and that you can back it up.

7. A South Florida lens

Few places in the country have as much at stake in these two deductions as South Florida. Tourism, hospitality, dining, and personal services employ an enormous share of workers across Broward — the people who make the region run are very often exactly the tipped and hourly employees these breaks were written for.

A few local realities are worth keeping in mind:

• Seasonal swings are normal. A strong winter season can push tips high; a slow summer pulls them down. Because the deduction is annual, what matters is your total for the year — which is another reason to track as you go rather than guess in April.
• Many workers hold more than one job. A bartender who also drives for a rideshare app may have tips from both. Both can count toward the tip deduction, up to the single $25,000 cap.
• Cash tips still have to be reported to be deducted. The deduction only applies to tips that make it onto your return — unreported cash tips can’t be deducted, and underreporting carries its own risks.

Because we work with families across Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Plantation, Sunrise, and Coral Springs, we see how much these details vary from one worker to the next — and how often people either miss the deduction entirely or assume it’s bigger than it is. Getting it right is worth a conversation.

8. What to do now

1. Confirm your job is on the tip list. The tip deduction only applies to occupations the IRS recognizes as customarily tipped. If you’re unsure whether your role qualifies, ask before you file.
2. Separate voluntary tips from service charges. Only voluntary tips qualify. If your pay includes automatic gratuities or mandatory service charges, those are treated as regular wages — know the split.
3. Track overtime by the premium half. Remember that only the “extra half” of FLSA time-and-a-half counts — not your full overtime pay. Your pay stubs should let you identify it.
4. Keep your own log. Starting in 2026, only separately reported tips and overtime are deductible. A simple running record protects you if your forms are wrong.
5. Check your withholding. Because these deductions can lower your tax, you may be over-withholding — a quick review can put more in each paycheck instead of waiting for a refund.
6. Don’t leave it for April. A short mid-year check-in makes sure your employer is reporting things correctly and that you’re set up to claim every dollar you’re owed.

9. Frequently asked questions

What we'll do for you

JCKC Financial Services is an independent brokerage based in Broward County. We help South Florida families and workers with the financial side of life — tax preparation and planning, ACA / Obamacare, life insurance, Medicare, and notary services — in English, French, Creole, and Spanish. The new tips and overtime deductions are a real benefit for the service workers who power this region, but the details — qualifying occupations, voluntary-vs-mandatory tips, the overtime “premium,” and the 2026 reporting rules — are exactly where people lose money or claim the wrong amount.

Whether you want to confirm your job qualifies, figure out how much of your tips and overtime you can actually deduct, fix your withholding so more lands in each paycheck, or simply have your return prepared by someone who understands service work, we can walk you through it — clearly, and in the language you’re most comfortable with.

Don’t wait until April to find out what these breaks mean for you — schedule a tax consultation or call (954) 825-9923. We’ll meet you in the office, online, or in the language you prefer.

10. Sources

1. Internal Revenue Service. One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act: Tax deductions for working Americans and seniors. irs.gov/newsroom/one-big-beautiful-bill-act-tax-deductions-for-working-americans-and-seniors
2. Internal Revenue Service. What the “No Tax on Tips” deduction means for you. irs.gov/newsroom/what-the-no-tax-on-tips-deduction-means-for-you
3. Internal Revenue Service. Treasury, IRS provide guidance for individuals who received tips or overtime during tax year 2025. irs.gov/newsroom/treasury-irs-provide-guidance-for-individuals-who-received-tips-or-overtime-during-tax-year-2025
4. Internal Revenue Service. One, Big, Beautiful Bill: How to take advantage of no tax on tips and overtime. irs.gov/newsroom/one-big-beautiful-bill-how-to-take-advantage-of-no-tax-on-tips-and-overtime
5. RSM US. No tax on tips: Final rules confirm qualifying occupations and tip definition. rsmus.com/insights/tax-alerts/2026/no-tax-tips-final-rules-confirm-qualifying-occupations-tip-definition
6. Bipartisan Policy Center. No Tax on Overtime in the 2026 Filing Season. bipartisanpolicy.org/explainer/no-tax-on-overtime-in-2026

Disclaimer: JCKC Financial Services is a private licensed insurance brokerage that also provides tax preparation and notary services. We are not a law firm and do not provide legal advice. Tax laws, rates, thresholds, and deduction amounts are set by federal and state law and IRS procedure and may change; the figures in this article reflect rules and guidance published for the 2025 and 2026 tax years and may be revised. This article is for general information only and is not legal, tax, or financial advice or a substitute for guidance from a licensed professional about your specific situation.

If you own a business in South Florida — a contractor in Hollywood, a salon owner in Plantation, a rideshare driver in Fort Lauderdale, or a family restaurant in Coral Springs — you have probably heard for the last few years that a big tax increase was coming. The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the law that gave pass-through businesses their signature 20% deduction and lowered individual rates, was written with an expiration date: the end of 2025. For a while it looked like 2026 would arrive with higher rates and a smaller deduction for millions of small businesses.

That is not what happened. In mid-2025, Congress passed a sweeping tax-and-budget law — commonly called the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) — that canceled the cliff. It made the lower individual brackets permanent, made the 20% pass-through deduction permanent, brought back 100% first-year expensing for equipment, and rewrote several reporting rules that hit small businesses directly.¹² Some of those changes save you money; others create new paperwork. Either way, the planning you did under the old “it all expires” assumption is now out of date.

This guide walks through the changes that matter most to a South Florida business owner for the 2026 tax year: the pass-through deduction, equipment write-offs, the new 1099 thresholds, what happened to brackets and the standard deduction, and the bigger-picture items like the estate exemption and the SALT cap. Throughout, the numbers are drawn from the IRS’s own 2026 inflation adjustments and guidance.

1. Why 2026 is different: the cliff that didn't happen

To understand 2026, you have to understand what almost happened. The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act lowered individual tax rates, nearly doubled the standard deduction, and created the Section 199A “qualified business income” deduction that lets most pass-through owners — sole proprietors, partnerships, S corporations, and LLCs — deduct up to 20% of their business profit. But to fit the law within budget rules, Congress set most of those provisions to sunset after December 31, 2025. Left untouched, 2026 would have brought higher rates and the loss of the 20% deduction.

The 2025 law changed the ending. Rather than letting the cuts lapse, it made the core individual-rate structure and the pass-through deduction permanent, while adjusting thresholds and adding some new breaks and some new reporting burdens.² For a business owner, the practical message is simple: the tax environment you planned around in 2024 didn’t end — it largely continued, with a handful of important tweaks. The risk now isn’t a sudden rate increase; it’s missing the new opportunities because you assumed everything was changing and stopped paying attention.

2. The 20% pass-through deduction is now permanent

For most South Florida small businesses, the single most valuable line on the return is the qualified business income (QBI) deduction under Section 199A. If you operate as a sole proprietor, partnership, S corporation, or an LLC taxed as any of those, you may be able to deduct up to 20% of your qualified business income before you ever calculate your tax. On $100,000 of qualifying profit, that’s up to a $20,000 deduction — money that is simply never taxed.

Three things are worth knowing for 2026:

• It’s permanent now. The deduction was scheduled to disappear after 2025; the 2025 law made it a permanent part of the code.²
• The phase-out thresholds went up. Above certain income levels, the deduction starts getting limited — especially for “specified service” businesses like consulting, health, law, and accounting. For 2026 those limits begin phasing in at roughly $201,775 of taxable income for single filers and $403,500 for joint filers, both higher than before, so more owners qualify for the full deduction.¹
• There’s a new minimum. Starting in 2026, a taxpayer with at least $1,000 of qualified business income from an active trade or business is guaranteed a minimum deduction of $400, even if other limits would otherwise reduce it to zero.³

Because the deduction interacts with your entity type, your wages, and your total taxable income, it is also one of the most common places owners leave money on the table — or claim more than they should. If your income is near those phase-out thresholds, the decisions you make about salary versus distributions, or whether to elect S-corporation treatment, can swing the deduction by thousands of dollars. That is exactly the kind of modeling worth doing before year-end, not in April.

3. Writing off equipment: bonus depreciation and Section 179

If your business buys things that last — work trucks, machinery, computers, kitchen equipment, salon chairs, tools — the rules for writing them off just got much more generous, and that has real implications for any purchase you’re weighing this year.

100% bonus depreciation is back — permanently

Under the phase-down schedule of the old law, first-year “bonus” depreciation had been dropping — 80%, then 60% — on its way to zero. The 2025 law reversed course and permanently restored 100% bonus depreciation for qualifying property acquired and placed in service after January 19, 2025.⁴ In plain terms: most new and used equipment your business buys and starts using can be deducted in full in the year you put it to work, instead of being written off a little at a time over many years.

Section 179 expensing

Section 179 is the other way to write off equipment immediately, and it was expanded too. For 2026, a business can expense up to $2.56 million of qualifying equipment, with the benefit beginning to phase out once total purchases for the year exceed roughly $4.09 million.³ For the vast majority of South Florida small businesses, those ceilings are far above anything you’ll spend — which means the practical effect is that you can usually deduct equipment purchases in full, the year you make them.

The catch worth remembering is that a deduction only helps if you have profit to deduct it against, and accelerating a write-off pulls a future deduction into the present. Buying a $40,000 truck to “save on taxes” still costs you $40,000; the tax benefit offsets only a fraction of it. The smart move is to let these rules influence the timing of purchases you were already going to make — not to spend money you don’t need to spend.

4. The new 1099 rules every owner needs to know

Two reporting changes will touch nearly every South Florida business — both the ones that receive payments through apps and the ones that pay contractors. Neither changes what income is taxable; both change which paperwork gets generated.

The two reporting changes that hit small businesses most directly in 2026. Higher thresholds mean fewer forms — not less taxable income.

Form	Old threshold	2026 threshold	Who it affects
1099-K (payment apps, card processors, marketplaces)	$600, any number of transactions	$20,000 AND 200+ transactions	Anyone paid through PayPal, Venmo for business, Square, Stripe, Etsy, etc.5
1099-NEC / 1099-MISC (paying contractors)	$600	$2,000 (payments made in 2026)	Any business that hires freelancers or subcontractors.6

The 1099-K change is a relief for many micro-sellers and side-hustlers. A planned $600 reporting trigger — which would have generated a flood of forms for casual sellers — was rolled back, and the threshold returned to the long-standing $20,000 in payments and more than 200 transactions.⁵ If you sell on a marketplace or take card payments, you may simply receive fewer forms than you feared.

The 1099-NEC change cuts the other way for owners who hire help: starting with 2026 payments, you generally only need to issue a 1099 to a contractor once you’ve paid them $2,000 or more in the year, up from the old $600 line.⁶ That’s less paperwork — but it’s also a trap if you misread it.

“A higher 1099 threshold doesn’t make income tax-free. If you earned it, you still report it — the only thing that changed is whether a form shows up in the mail.”

5. Brackets, the standard deduction, and what stayed the same

Because the lower individual rates were made permanent, the seven federal brackets — 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35%, and 37% — carry into 2026, with the dollar thresholds adjusted upward for inflation each year.¹ For a pass-through owner, this is the rate structure your business profit flows into after the QBI deduction, so it directly shapes your effective tax rate.

The standard deduction, which the 2017 law nearly doubled and the 2025 law kept, rises again for 2026:

2026 standard-deduction amounts from the IRS’s annual inflation adjustments.¹

Filing status	2026 standard deduction
Single	$16,100
Married filing jointly	$32,200
Head of household	$24,150
Additional, age 65+	$2,050 (single) / $1,650 per qualifying spouse (joint)

For most owners, the takeaway is continuity: the deduction that shelters the first chunk of your income is larger, and the rates that apply above it are the same ones you’ve worked with for years. The planning levers — how you pay yourself, when you recognize income, what you can legitimately deduct — haven’t moved, but the QBI and depreciation changes give you more room to use them.

6. SALT, the estate exemption, and bigger-picture planning

A few changes won’t touch every owner but matter enormously to the ones they do reach — especially as your business grows or as you think about passing it on.

The SALT cap

The deduction for state and local taxes (SALT) had been capped at $10,000 since 2018. The 2025 law raised that cap substantially — to $40,400 for 2026 — though it phases back down toward $10,000 for higher earners (the reduction begins once modified adjusted gross income passes roughly $505,000).¹ For most Florida residents the SALT cap is less of an issue than in high-tax states, because Florida has no state income tax — but it can still matter if you pay significant property taxes or owe income tax in another state where you do business.

The estate and gift exemption

If you’ve built real value — a business, real estate, investments — the estate-tax exemption decides how much can pass to your family free of federal estate tax. For 2026 that exemption rises to $15 million per person (so $30 million for a married couple), up from about $13.99 million in 2025.¹ The 2025 law set this higher level and made it permanent, removing the scheduled drop that had many business families rushing to plan. That doesn’t make estate planning unnecessary — succession, buy-sell agreements, and life insurance to cover liquidity still matter — but it removes a ticking clock that was driving a lot of anxiety.

7. A Florida-specific lens

South Florida owners start with a genuine advantage: Florida has no state personal income tax. The profit that flows through to you from a sole proprietorship, partnership, or S corporation isn’t taxed again at the state level the way it would be in New York, New Jersey, or California. That makes the federal rules above the whole game for most owners here.

A few Florida-specific points still deserve attention:

• Self-employment tax is still federal. No state income tax doesn’t mean no tax on your business profit — Social Security and Medicare (self-employment tax) still apply to sole proprietors and partners, which is a big reason owners look at S-corporation election as they grow.
• C corporations face Florida corporate income tax. If your business is a C corporation, Florida does impose a corporate income tax, so entity choice has a state dimension even here.
• Sales tax and reemployment tax. Many Florida businesses collect sales tax and pay reemployment (unemployment) tax on employees — obligations that are separate from your income-tax return but easy to overlook when you’re focused on April.

Because we work with owners across Fort Lauderdale, Plantation, Hollywood, Sunrise, and Coral Springs, we see the same pattern again and again: the federal changes are where the money is, and Florida’s lack of an income tax makes getting the federal side right even more valuable than it would be elsewhere.

8. What South Florida owners should do now

1. Confirm your QBI position. Check whether your taxable income is near the 2026 phase-out thresholds ($201,775 single / $403,500 joint), because that’s where entity choice and how you pay yourself can change the deduction the most.
2. Time equipment purchases deliberately. With 100% bonus depreciation back and Section 179 expanded, a purchase you were already planning may be fully deductible — let the rules influence when you buy, not whether you overspend.
3. Fix your recordkeeping for the new 1099 thresholds. Don’t rely on forms to tell you what you earned or paid — track contractor payments and app income yourself, since the higher thresholds mean fewer forms, not less liability.
4. Revisit your entity choice. Permanent QBI rules plus self-employment-tax math make the sole-proprietor-vs-S-corporation question worth re-running, especially if your profit has grown.
5. Connect taxes to the rest of your plan. Retirement contributions, life insurance for succession, and health coverage all interact with your business taxes — plan them together.
6. Plan before year-end, not at filing time. Almost every lever here — income timing, purchases, salary, retirement contributions — has to be pulled before December 31. April is for reporting; the fall is for planning.

9. Frequently asked questions

What we'll do for you

JCKC Financial Services is an independent brokerage based in Broward County. We help South Florida business owners and families with the financial side of life — tax preparation and planning, ACA / Obamacare, life insurance, Medicare, and notary services — in English, French, Creole, and Spanish. The 2026 tax changes created real opportunities for owners who plan ahead and real traps for those who assume nothing changed; our job is to make sure you’re on the right side of that line.

Whether you need to model your QBI deduction, weigh an S-corporation election, time an equipment purchase, or simply understand which of these changes actually applies to your business, we can walk you through it — and because we also handle insurance and estate documents, we can connect your taxes to the rest of your financial life. We won’t sell you a write-off you don’t need, and we’ll tell you plainly what each move will and won’t do.

Don’t wait until April to find out what 2026 means for your business — schedule a tax consultation or call (954) 825-9923. We’ll meet you in the office, online, or in the language you’re most comfortable with.

10. Sources

1. Internal Revenue Service. IRS releases tax inflation adjustments for tax year 2026, including amendments from the One, Big, Beautiful Bill. irs.gov/newsroom/irs-releases-tax-inflation-adjustments-for-tax-year-2026
2. Internal Revenue Service. One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act provisions overview. irs.gov/newsroom/one-big-beautiful-bill-provisions
3. Tax Foundation. 2026 Tax Brackets and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (QBI, Section 179, thresholds). taxfoundation.org/data/all/federal/2026-tax-brackets
4. BDO. One Big Beautiful Bill Act Expands 100% Depreciation Expensing Opportunities. bdo.com/insights/tax/one-big-beautiful-bill-act-expands-100-depreciation-expensing-opportunities
5. Internal Revenue Service. IRS issues FAQs on Form 1099-K threshold under the One, Big, Beautiful Bill; dollar limit reverts to $20,000. irs.gov/newsroom/irs-issues-faqs-on-form-1099-k-threshold-reverts-to-20000
6. Internal Revenue Service. Treasury, IRS issue proposed regulations on backup withholding thresholds for third-party payments (1099-NEC/MISC raised to $2,000). irs.gov/newsroom/treasury-irs-proposed-regulations-backup-withholding-thresholds

Disclaimer: JCKC Financial Services is a private licensed insurance brokerage that also provides tax preparation and notary services. We are not a law firm and do not provide legal advice. Tax laws, rates, thresholds, and deduction amounts are set by federal and state law and IRS procedure and may change; the figures in this article reflect rules and inflation adjustments published for the 2026 tax year and may be revised. This article is for general information only and is not legal, tax, or financial advice or a substitute for guidance from a licensed professional about your specific situation.

Across South Florida, hundreds of thousands of people work, raise families, pay rent, and run small businesses without a Social Security number. Many of them assume that because they can't get an SSN, the tax system isn't for them — that filing is either impossible or unsafe. Both assumptions are wrong, and both can be expensive.

The Internal Revenue Service created the Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) precisely for this situation: a number that lets someone who isn't eligible for an SSN still file a federal tax return, report income, and — in many cases — claim refunds and credits worth thousands of dollars. For a family in Broward County, getting an ITIN right can be the difference between leaving money on the table every spring and building a clean record of tax compliance that matters for years to come.

This guide walks through what an ITIN is and is not, who needs one, how to apply for or renew it, and — the part that trips up the most families — exactly which tax credits an ITIN unlocks in 2026 after the recent law changes, and which it doesn't.

1. What an ITIN is — and what it isn't

An Individual Taxpayer Identification Number is a nine-digit tax-processing number the IRS issues to people who have a U.S. tax filing or reporting obligation but are not eligible for a Social Security number. It always begins with the digit 9 and is formatted like an SSN (9XX-XX-XXXX).¹ Its entire purpose is to let the tax system identify a taxpayer who would otherwise have no number at all.

What surprises many people is how narrow that purpose is. An ITIN exists for federal tax administration and nothing else. Understanding the limits is just as important as understanding the uses:

So why get one? Because if you have income that's taxable in the United States, the law requires you to report it, and you need a taxpayer number to do that. Filing with an ITIN lets you meet that obligation, recover federal income tax that may have been withheld from your pay, claim the credits you're legally entitled to, and build a documented history of tax compliance — something that can carry weight far beyond tax season.

2. Who needs an ITIN

You generally need an ITIN if you have a U.S. tax filing requirement (or are entitled to a refund) and you are not eligible for an SSN. In South Florida, the people who most often need one fall into a handful of recognizable groups.

Common situations that call for an ITIN. If you're unsure whether you have a filing obligation, that's exactly the conversation to have before tax season.

Who	Why they typically need an ITIN
Workers without an SSN	They earn income in the U.S. and must file a return, but aren't eligible for a Social Security number.
Spouses and dependents	A spouse or child who needs to be listed on a return — for example to file jointly or to claim a dependent — but has no SSN.
Small-business owners & landlords	People with U.S. business or rental income that must be reported, including some foreign owners of U.S. property.
Investors with U.S.-source income	Nonresidents who receive income subject to U.S. tax or reporting and need a number to file or claim a treaty benefit.
Students & scholars	Certain foreign students, professors, or researchers who must file but can't get an SSN.

One important note: you cannot have both an SSN and an ITIN. If you are eligible for a Social Security number, you must apply for that instead — the ITIN is only for people who are not eligible. And if you later become eligible for an SSN (for example, after a change in immigration status), you should stop using the ITIN and notify the IRS so your tax records can be merged.

3. How to apply for (or renew) an ITIN

You apply for an ITIN using Form W-7, the Application for IRS Individual Taxpayer Identification Number. In most cases you submit the W-7 together with the federal tax return for which you need the number, plus documents that prove both your identity and your foreign status.²

The documentation step is where families get nervous — and for good reason. The default process asks you to mail original documents, such as your passport, to the IRS, where they may sit for weeks. There are safer ways to do it:

1. Use a Certifying Acceptance Agent (CAA). A CAA is authorized by the IRS to verify your original documents in person, so you keep your passport in your hand instead of mailing it away.²
2. Make an appointment at an IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center. Designated centers can authenticate certain documents in person, by appointment.²
3. Mail original or certified copies. If you go this route, request certified copies from the issuing agency where possible, rather than sending true originals.

When an ITIN expires — and how to renew it

An ITIN is not permanent. If your ITIN is not used on at least one federal tax return for three consecutive years, it expires on December 31 of that third year and must be renewed before you can use it again.³ An expired ITIN doesn't mean you did anything wrong — it just means the number went dormant — but filing with an expired ITIN can delay your refund and cause certain credits to be disallowed until the renewal is processed.

Renewing uses the same Form W-7, marked as a renewal, with the same kind of identity documents. The practical lesson is simple: if you have an ITIN, try to file every year, even in a year you owe nothing, so the number stays active and your record stays clean.

4. Which credits an ITIN can and can't claim in 2026

This is the section that costs families the most money when they get it wrong — and the rules changed recently, so even people who have filed for years should re-read it. The short version: an ITIN lets you file, but several of the biggest credits are tied to having a Social Security number, not just any taxpayer number.

How the major credits treat ITIN filers in 2026. The SSN-vs-ITIN distinction is the single most important thing to get right.

Credit	Available to ITIN filers?	What the rule actually is
Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)	No	The filer, spouse, and any qualifying child must each have a valid SSN. If anyone on the return has an ITIN instead, the EITC is not allowed.5
Child Tax Credit (CTC)	Only for SSN children	The qualifying child must have an SSN. Beginning in 2025, the parent claiming the credit must also have a work-eligible SSN — on a joint return, only one spouse needs one.46
Credit for Other Dependents (ODC)	Yes	A dependent with an ITIN can qualify the family for this $500 nonrefundable credit — the fallback when a child doesn't qualify for the full CTC.4
American Opportunity / education credits	Sometimes	Available to ITIN filers who otherwise qualify, though the refundable portion of the American Opportunity Credit has its own restrictions.

Two big changes deserve emphasis. First, the Earned Income Tax Credit is completely off-limits to anyone filing with an ITIN: it requires a valid Social Security number for the worker, the spouse, and every child claimed.⁵ Families sometimes assume that because they work and have children, they qualify — and an incorrect EITC claim can trigger an audit and a multi-year ban.

Second, the Child Tax Credit tightened in 2025. The 2025 tax law set the credit at $2,200 per qualifying child (with the refundable portion capped lower) and — for the first time — required the parent claiming it to have a work-eligible SSN, not only the child. On a joint return, just one spouse needs that SSN, which is exactly the lifeline that makes mixed-status filing work.⁶

The takeaway isn't “don't bother filing.” It's that the credits you qualify for depend on the exact mix of SSNs and ITINs in your household — and getting that mix mapped correctly is where a real preparer earns their fee, because the difference can be thousands of dollars in either direction.

5. Mixed-status families: filing when one spouse has an SSN

Many South Florida households are mixed status — one spouse has a Social Security number, the other has (or needs) an ITIN, and the children may have a mix of both. The good news is that the tax code is built to handle exactly this, and filing jointly is usually allowed and often advantageous.

Here is how the pieces fit together in practice:

• One spouse with an SSN can unlock the Child Tax Credit. Because the 2025 rule lets a joint return qualify when just one spouse has a work-eligible SSN, a family where one parent has an SSN can still claim the CTC for any child who also has an SSN.⁶
• An ITIN child gets the $500 credit, not the $2,200 one. If a child has an ITIN rather than an SSN, the family generally can't claim the Child Tax Credit for that child, but may claim the $500 Credit for Other Dependents instead.⁴
• The EITC is all-or-nothing. If anyone on the return — either spouse — uses an ITIN, the household cannot claim the Earned Income Tax Credit at all.⁵

“The credits your family qualifies for depend on the exact mix of Social Security numbers and ITINs on the return — map it wrong and you can lose thousands.”

Because the math changes with every combination, mixed-status families benefit the most from sitting down with someone who can model the options — joint vs. separate, which dependents to claim where, and whether applying for an ITIN for a spouse actually improves the outcome. It frequently does, but not always, and the only way to know is to run the numbers.

6. Is it safe to file? Confidentiality and why it matters

The most common reason people don't file is fear — the worry that handing the government your information could be used against you. It's a serious concern and it deserves a straight answer rather than a slogan.

Federal law has long protected the confidentiality of tax-return information, and the IRS's job is to collect taxes, not to enforce immigration law. At the same time, the rules around information sharing between agencies have been the subject of legal and policy disputes, and they can shift. That is precisely why this is a conversation to have with a professional who follows the current landscape — so your decision is based on today's facts, not last year's rumor or a neighbor's anecdote.

The flip side is also true: filing incorrectly — claiming a credit you're not entitled to, using an expired ITIN, or skipping income — creates risk. Accuracy protects you. That is the real argument for getting help rather than guessing.

7. Reporting foreign income and accounts

Many ITIN filers have ties to another country, and that raises a question worth answering carefully: do you have to report income or accounts you have abroad? The answer depends on your tax residency.

If you are a resident alien for tax purposes — typically because you meet the “substantial presence” test for days spent in the U.S. — you are generally taxed on your worldwide income, the same as a citizen. That can include foreign wages, rental income from property abroad, or interest in an overseas account. Nonresident aliens, by contrast, are generally taxed only on their U.S.-source income.

Separately, U.S. taxpayers with foreign bank or financial accounts that exceed certain thresholds may have to file informational reports about those accounts. These rules are technical, the penalties for getting them wrong can be steep, and they are easy to overlook — another reason a family with assets in two countries should have the conversation rather than assume.

8. What this means for South Florida families

Taxes don't sit in a box by themselves — they connect to everything else a family is trying to do. The same household that needs an ITIN is often also shopping for life insurance, enrolling in an ACA health plan, or trying to build the financial record that supports a future immigration step. Handling the tax piece correctly makes the rest easier, and getting it wrong can quietly undermine them.

Two things matter especially in our community. The first is language. Filing a federal return you don't fully understand — or worse, handing your documents to someone who can't explain what they're doing — is how mistakes and overpayments happen. JCKC works in English, French, Creole, and Spanish, so you can ask questions and understand the answers in the language you think in.

The second is trust and reach. From Fort Lauderdale and Hollywood to Plantation, Sunrise, and Coral Springs, we work with families who are navigating the U.S. system for the first time and want a preparer who will tell them the truth: what they qualify for, what they don't, and what filing will and won't do for them. Many of our clients have ties abroad, which is exactly where the worldwide-income and foreign-account questions become real.

Your ITIN filing checklist

1. Confirm you actually need an ITIN — you have a U.S. tax filing or reporting obligation and aren't eligible for an SSN.
2. Gather your identity documents — ideally a valid passport, which proves both identity and foreign status on its own.
3. Prepare Form W-7 with your tax return, and use a Certifying Acceptance Agent so you don't have to mail your original passport.
4. Map your household's SSNs and ITINs to see which credits apply — CTC for SSN children, the $500 Credit for Other Dependents for ITIN dependents, and no EITC if anyone uses an ITIN.
5. If you already have an ITIN, check that it hasn't expired — renew it before filing if it's gone unused for three years.
6. Ask about foreign income and accounts if you have ties abroad, so nothing required goes unreported.

9. Frequently asked questions

What we'll do for you

JCKC Financial Services is an independent brokerage based in Broward County. We help South Florida families with the financial side of life — tax preparation, ACA / Obamacare, life insurance, Medicare, and notary services — in English, French, Creole, and Spanish. For families filing without a Social Security number, the tax piece is often the most intimidating, so we make it clear and honest.

Whether you need to apply for an ITIN, renew one that's expired, or simply understand which credits your household qualifies for this year, we can walk you through it — and because we also handle insurance and estate documents, we can connect the dots between your taxes and the rest of your financial life. We won't promise credits you don't qualify for, and we'll tell you plainly what filing will and won't do.

Don't leave money on the table or put off filing out of uncertainty — schedule a tax consultation or call (954) 825-9923. We'll meet you in the office, online, or in the language you're most comfortable with.

10. Sources

1. Internal Revenue Service. Individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN). irs.gov/tin/itin/individual-taxpayer-identification-number-itin
2. Internal Revenue Service. How to apply for an ITIN (Form W-7, Acceptance Agents, Taxpayer Assistance Centers). irs.gov/tin/itin/how-to-apply-for-an-itin
3. Internal Revenue Service. How to renew an ITIN (expiration rules). irs.gov/tin/itin/how-to-renew-an-itin
4. Internal Revenue Service. Child Tax Credit & Credit for Other Dependents. irs.gov/credits-deductions/individuals/child-tax-credit
5. Internal Revenue Service. Who Qualifies for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). irs.gov/…/who-qualifies-for-the-earned-income-tax-credit-eitc
6. Internal Revenue Service. One, Big, Beautiful Bill provisions (Child Tax Credit changes). irs.gov/newsroom/one-big-beautiful-bill-provisions

Disclaimer: JCKC Financial Services is a private licensed insurance brokerage that also provides tax preparation and notary services. We are not a law firm and do not provide legal or immigration advice. Tax laws, credit amounts, and ITIN rules are set by federal law and IRS procedure and may change; the figures and requirements in this article reflect rules in effect for the 2025 tax year as published by the IRS. This article is for general information only and is not legal, tax, immigration, or financial advice or a substitute for guidance from a licensed professional about your specific situation.

Carline drives for Uber three nights a week, cleans two houses in Hollywood every Tuesday, and runs a weekend braiding business out of her Pompano Beach living room. She is a small-business owner three times over — and like a growing number of South Florida workers, none of those jobs send her a W-2.

For a long time, that meant April was a guessing game: how much does she actually owe? Did she keep enough receipts? Will the IRS take her refund this year, or will she owe? In a bad year she paid $4,000 in penalties because she’d never heard of quarterly estimated taxes.⁷

This year, the playbook is different. Higher standard deduction. A bigger mileage rate. New SECURE 2.0 retirement catch-ups. And one rule that doesn’t change but everyone forgets: Florida has no state income tax, so every dollar you save on federal taxes is a dollar you keep.

Here is JCKC’s plain-English 2026 tax survival guide for self-employed South Floridians — rideshare drivers, home-services pros, salon owners, freelance contractors, and anyone else whose name is the business. Every figure below is the official 2026 number, sourced directly from IRS and Social Security Administration releases.

1. Why self-employed South Floridians get hit hardest

Self-employed workers in Florida fight a tax battle on three fronts at once, and most of them don’t know it until April:

1. No employer withholds for you. A W-2 employee at a hotel in Hollywood sees federal income tax come out of every paycheck automatically. A 1099 contractor at the same hotel gets a check with nothing taken out — and is supposed to pay the IRS themselves four times a year.
2. You pay both halves of payroll tax. Employees pay 7.65% in Social Security and Medicare; their employer pays another 7.65%. The self-employed pay the whole 15.3%. That is the most surprising number for first-time 1099 workers.²
3. Florida helps with one tax — and only one. No state income tax is a real benefit, but it means there’s no state-level withholding safety net. The IRS still expects you on time.

Add language barriers — a sizeable share of South Florida’s self-employed community speaks Kreyòl Ayisyen or Spanish at home — and the result is an industry-wide pattern of well-intentioned underpayment: workers who are not trying to cheat but who simply don’t know the schedule or the forms. Penalties stack up fast. The good news: with two or three habits in place, every one of those penalties is avoidable.

2. The 2026 standard deduction and tax brackets

The IRS adjusts most tax figures for inflation each year. For 2026, the standard deduction jumped meaningfully — partly from normal inflation, partly from changes in the One Big Beautiful Bill provisions. You can deduct this amount from your income without itemizing anything.¹

Source: IRS 2026 inflation adjustments (Rev. Proc. 2025-32).¹

Filing status	2025	2026	Change
Single / Married filing separately	$15,000	$16,100	+$1,100
Married filing jointly	$30,000	$32,200	+$2,200
Head of household	$22,500	$24,150	+$1,650

For a Hollywood couple filing jointly with $90,000 in combined income, $32,200 of that is automatically tax-free at the federal level. That is a $2,200 head-start versus 2025 — enough to cover several months of property tax, or a new HVAC compressor in the Florida heat.

3. Self-employment tax in plain English (the 15.3%)

Self-employment tax is the part that catches most first-time 1099 workers off-guard. It’s not a separate filing — it shows up on your Form 1040 — but it’s calculated independently from your federal income tax, and the rate is 15.3%:

• 12.4% Social Security — on your first $184,500 of net SE earnings in 2026.²
• 2.9% Medicare — on every dollar of net SE earnings, with no cap.
• Additional 0.9% Medicare surtax — kicks in on SE earnings above $200,000 single / $250,000 married filing jointly.

Some good news: only net earnings (after legitimate business expenses) are subject to SE tax. And you get to deduct half of the SE tax you pay as an above-the-line deduction on your federal income tax — the IRS’s way of compensating for the fact that employees don’t pay the employer half.

4. Quarterly estimated taxes — the schedule that saves you penalties

Because nobody is withholding from your paycheck, the IRS asks the self-employed to pay estimated taxes quarterly. Miss them, and you’ll owe not just the tax but an underpayment penalty plus interest. The four 2026 deadlines:⁷

Source: IRS Form 1040-ES, 2026. None fall on a weekend, so no shifts.⁷

Quarter	For income earned	2026 deadline
Q1	Jan 1 – Mar 31, 2026	Wed, April 15, 2026
Q2	Apr 1 – May 31, 2026	Mon, June 15, 2026
Q3	Jun 1 – Aug 31, 2026	Tue, September 15, 2026
Q4	Sep 1 – Dec 31, 2026	Fri, January 15, 2027

Practical rule of thumb we use with our clients: set aside 25-30% of every payment you receive in a separate bank account. That covers the 15.3% SE tax plus a healthy reserve for federal income tax. Pay each quarter from that account. If you wait until April 15 to pay the whole year at once, the IRS will likely charge a penalty even if you eventually pay the full amount.

Two ways to estimate the safe harbor:

• Pay 100% of last year’s total tax across the four installments (110% if your prior-year adjusted gross income was over $150,000). Easiest if you have last year’s return handy.
• Pay 90% of this year’s expected tax. Better for new businesses or years where you expect a big income drop.

5. The deductions self-employed Floridians miss most

This is where we save clients the most money every year. Honest, ordinary business expenses reduce your net earnings — which means they reduce both your federal income tax and your 15.3% SE tax. The most-missed categories in our office:

Mileage rate per IRS Notice 2026-10.³

Deduction	What it is	2026 figure
Business mileage	Every mile driven for business (not commuting). Track via app or odometer log.	72.5¢ / mile
Home office	Square footage used exclusively for business. Simplified method = $5 / sq ft.	Up to $1,500
Phone & internet	Business-use portion of your cell and home internet bills.	Pro-rated
Supplies & tools	Anything you bought to do the work — cleaning products, salon chairs, gas-mower fuel.	Actual cost
Business insurance	General liability, professional liability, errors & omissions.	Actual cost
Software & subscriptions	QuickBooks, Square, gig-driver apps, accounting software.	Actual cost
Mileage of half SE tax	Above-the-line deduction for the employer half of SE tax you paid.	Auto-calculated

For a Pompano Beach rideshare driver who logs 25,000 business miles, the mileage deduction alone is worth $18,125 in 2026 — a $625 bump over 2025. That’s gas, maintenance, depreciation, and insurance rolled into one tidy IRS-approved per-mile rate.

6. The self-employed health insurance deduction

If you pay for your own health insurance — for example, an ACA Marketplace plan because you don’t have an employer-sponsored option — the premiums are fully deductible as an above-the-line adjustment on Schedule 1, Line 17.⁹ This is one of the most valuable deductions specifically for the self-employed.

Two important rules:

• The deduction is limited to your net self-employment earnings from the business under which the plan is established. If you earned $20,000 net and your family premium was $24,000, you can deduct $20,000 — not $24,000.
• The deduction is calculated on Form 7206 (which replaced the old worksheet method). Premiums for dental, vision, and qualifying long-term care insurance also count.

Stack this with the ACA Premium Tax Credit (if you qualify), and the combined savings can easily exceed $10,000 a year for a small-business owner with a family. We coordinate the tax filing with the Marketplace application to make sure both numbers reconcile correctly. See our ACA / Obamacare service page for how the two work together.

7. Retirement plans built for self-employed people

Self-employed workers can put away significantly more pre-tax than W-2 employees if they set up the right account. The 2026 limits, per the IRS’s official cost-of-living adjustments:⁴

Source: IRS Notice 2025-67. Ages 60–63 enhanced catch-up under SECURE 2.0.⁴

Plan	Who it’s for	2026 limit	Age-50+ catch-up
Traditional / Roth IRA	Anyone with earned income	$7,500	+$1,100
SEP-IRA	Sole props, single-member LLCs	Up to $72,000 (25% of net SE earnings)	—
Solo 401(k)	Self-employed with no employees (other than spouse)	$24,500 deferral + employer share, up to $72,000 total	+$8,000 (or $11,250 ages 60–63)
SIMPLE IRA	Small businesses with employees	$17,000	+$4,000

For someone with $80,000 in net SE earnings, a Solo 401(k) can shelter $40,000+ pre-tax — cutting your taxable income by half while building retirement savings. We don’t sell investments, but we coordinate the tax-side decisions with your financial advisor so the contributions are documented and deducted correctly.

8. ITIN filing for the Haitian and immigrant community

An Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) is for taxpayers who don’t qualify for a Social Security Number but still have a federal tax filing requirement. ITINs are used by many South Florida residents — including documented and undocumented workers, dependents on a U.S. resident’s return, and certain spouses of resident or nonresident aliens.

Important 2026 rules to know:⁸

• Apply (or renew) with Form W-7, attached to your federal tax return.
• A current, unexpired passport is the only stand-alone identity document; otherwise you’ll submit two of thirteen accepted IDs.
• Standard processing: 7 weeks normally; 9–11 weeks during tax season (Jan 15 – Apr 30) or if applying from abroad.
• ITINs expire if not used on a federal tax return for three consecutive years. Renewals must include a return unless an exception applies.
• Original documents are returned within 60 days. (You can also use an IRS-Certified Acceptance Agent — like JCKC — so you don’t have to mail your passport.)

9. The Florida advantage — no state income tax

Florida is one of nine U.S. states with no personal state income tax. For the self-employed, this is a meaningful structural advantage versus working the same hours in New York, New Jersey, or California:¹⁰

• No state income tax return to file. Federal Form 1040 (with Schedules C and SE) is your only filing.
• No state-level estimated tax payments. Just the four federal quarters above.
• No state-level inheritance, gift, or intangibles tax.

Some Florida-specific taxes that do apply if your business sells goods or hires people:

• Sales tax — 6% state-wide, plus a county discretionary surtax (Broward currently adds 1%, for a 7% total). Required if you sell tangible goods or certain services. Register with the Florida Department of Revenue.
• Reemployment (unemployment) tax — applies if you have W-2 employees. New employer rate is 2.7% for the first 10 quarters; sole proprietors with no employees don’t pay this.
• Florida corporate income tax — applies to C-corporations, not sole proprietorships or single-member LLCs.

10. Your 2026 tax action plan

If you take nothing else from this article, do these five things between now and your next estimated tax deadline:

1. Open a separate “tax savings” bank account and move 25-30% of every payment you receive into it. Pay your quarterly estimates from that account. Don’t touch it for anything else.
2. Install a mileage tracker on your phone today. Stride and MileIQ are free; Hurdlr has a paid tier. At 72.5¢ per mile, 100 miles a week of forgotten tracking costs you $3,000+ a year in lost deductions.
3. Create one folder per quarter for receipts and invoices. Snap a photo at the time of purchase. The IRS standard for record-keeping is three years from the return’s due date; six years if you under-reported by more than 25%.
4. If you have an ACA Marketplace plan, make sure your estimated 2026 income on file matches what you’re actually earning. This keeps your subsidy correct and avoids a reconciliation surprise at tax time. See our ACA / Obamacare service page for the details.
5. Schedule a 15-minute tax review with us by July or August. We’ll pull your year-to-date numbers, your last return, and your expense pattern, and tell you whether you’re on track or need to adjust your quarterly estimates. Learn more about JCKC tax services.

11. Frequently asked questions

What we’ll do for you

JCKC Financial Services is a Broward County tax preparer and independent insurance broker. We prepare personal returns (Form 1040), self-employed and small-business returns (Schedule C), S-corp and partnership returns, ITIN applications and renewals, and quarterly estimated tax plans. Every conversation, document, and follow-up can happen in English, Kreyòl Ayisyen, or Français.

We coordinate your tax filing with your insurance: the ACA subsidy reconciliation, the self-employed health insurance deduction, Medicare’s income-related premium surcharges (IRMAA), and the rest of the alphabet soup. That coordination is the value of working with a single advisor for tax and insurance — every dollar saved on one side stays consistent on the other.

A free fifteen-minute conversation is usually enough to know what’s possible. Schedule a call or pick up the phone — (954) 825-9923.

12. Sources

1. Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026. (Rev. Proc. 2025-32.) irs.gov/newsroom — 2026 inflation adjustments
2. Social Security Administration. 2026 Social Security Changes Fact Sheet. ssa.gov/news/cola/factsheets/2026 and IRS, Self-Employment Tax (Social Security and Medicare Taxes).
3. Internal Revenue Service. IRS Sets 2026 Business Standard Mileage Rate at 72.5 Cents Per Mile. (Notice 2026-10.) irs.gov/newsroom — 2026 standard mileage rate
4. Internal Revenue Service. 401(k) Limit Increases to $24,500 for 2026; IRA Limit Increases to $7,500. (Notice 2025-67.) irs.gov/newsroom — 2026 retirement plan limits
5. Internal Revenue Service. Rev. Proc. 2025-19 — 2026 HSA inflation adjustments. irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-25-19.pdf
6. Internal Revenue Service. Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) — Tax Year 2026 Maximum Credits. irs.gov/credits-deductions/eitc
7. Internal Revenue Service. Form 1040-ES (2026) Estimated Tax for Individuals. irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040es.pdf
8. Internal Revenue Service. Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN). irs.gov/individuals/itin
9. Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 7206, Self-Employed Health Insurance Deduction. irs.gov/instructions/i7206
10. Florida Department of Revenue. Florida Tax Information for Businesses and Individuals. floridarevenue.com

Disclaimer: JCKC Financial Services is a private licensed insurance brokerage and independent tax preparer. We are not connected with or endorsed by the Internal Revenue Service, the Social Security Administration, the State of Florida, or any other government agency. Tax rules vary by individual circumstance; this article is general information only and is not a substitute for personalized advice from a licensed tax professional.