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President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which was recently signed into law, offers Americans a number of tax benefits. It makes many of the changes from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017 permanent, and adds some new tax rules, both short-term and long-term, according to H&R Block. In addition to the No Tax on Tips provision (which allows eligible tipped workers to deduct a portion of their income from tips on their federal income taxes) and a car loan deduction, hidden away in the 940-page megabill is another little-known write-off for taxpayers who make charitable donations. Here’s what to know. What are the new tax rules for deducting charitable donations? With the new law, taxpayers who claim the standard deduction, not just those who itemize their taxes, will be able to claim a charitable deduction for cash contributions, according to H&R Block. That write-off goes into effect in 2026. Not sure what the difference is between standard and itemized deductions? The standard deduction is a specific dollar amount that reduces the amount of taxable income. However, some taxpayers choose to itemize their deductions if their allowable itemized deductions total is greater than their standard deduction, according to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). (Other taxpayers aren’t entitled to use the standard deduction.) In 2020, during the pandemic, which fell under Trump’s first term, the CARES ActCoronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Actallowed a deduction of $300 for cash donations for those taking the standard deduction. And later it doubled that amount to $600 for joint filers or married couples in 2021, before it was phased out, per USA Today. Now, filers can take an above-the-line deduction of up to $1,000 for single individuals and $2,000 for married joint filers, which can lower a taxpayer’s bottom line, or gross adjusted income, per H&R Block. However, this does not apply to property contributions made to a charity. How will deductions for charitable donations change for itemized taxes? Also starting in 2026, taxpayers who claim an itemized deduction for charitable contributions will be required to reduce their deduction by 0.5% of their adjusted gross income.
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E-Commerce
OpenAI is rolling out a new AI agent within ChatGPT that can browse the web and conduct deep research. An AI agent is similar to an AI app that can retain extensive information about a user and an automated workflow, reasoning its way toward task completion. This new ChatGPT agent is a hybrid. OpenAI previously released an agent called Operator, which can browse the web and access tools. Another agent, Deep Research, can search the web and reason through information to produce a comprehensive report on a topic. The new agent combines the strengths of both tools, along with ChatGPTs built-in intelligence and conversational fluency. OpenAI said in a press release on Thursday that the ChatGPT agent carries out tasks using its own virtual computer, fluidly shifting between reasoning and action to handle complex workflows from start to finish. For example, OpenAI says the agent can analyze a users calendar to generate a briefing on upcoming client meetings, or plan and purchase ingredients for a dinner party. A business might ask the agent to create a slide deck based on in-depth research about a group of competing companies. The model behind these agents is designed to contemplate new directions after starting a task. Users can approve tasks the agent wants to carry out, redirect them if they go off track, or adjust the original goals details. The ChatGPT agent can run code and prompt the user to log in to websites when necessary. It might also use application programming interfaces (APIs) to access data sources, such as files stored in Google Drive. Importantly, the agent requests permission before performing consequential actions like sending emails, submitting forms, making purchases, or handling personal information. The user can take control of the browser or stop the agents tasks at any time. And the agent wont do just anything. OpenAI says the agent rejects harmful or illegal requests. It wont handle high-risk tasks such as financial transactions or legal advice. The new hybrid agent launches today for ChatGPT Pro, Plus, and Team subscribers. Users can enable it by selecting agent mode from the tools drop-down menu within ChatGPT.
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E-Commerce
While back-to-school shopping is certainly an end of summer expense that many families dread, this year is shaping up to be even more financially straining. Binders, backpacks, calculators, and even laptops (which about 94% of high school students use), definitely don’t come cheap. This year, the stress over having to purchase the items seems to be mounting higher than ever. According to a newly released Intuit Credit Karma report, which surveyed 1,022 parents with at least one school-aged child, more than a third (39%) said they can no longer afford the back-to-school shopping trip. Likewise, 44% say they’ll have to take on debt to pay for the school supplies for the 2025/2026 school year. That figure has jumped by 10% (from 34%) in just one calendar year. The data around back-to-school shopping gets even more concerning, too. According to the report, more than half of parents (54%) say they will need to sacrifice on essentials like groceries in order to get their children the necessary school supplies. And a large portion of parents45%say they can no longer afford after-school programs, sports, or other extracurriculars. 32% even said they’re considering leaving their jobs or trimming their working hours to care for their kids after school pickup. Courtney Alev, consumer financial advocate at Credit Karma, spoke to the financial strain families are feeling this year in a press release. Back-to-school shopping can place a significant financial burden on families, often leaving them with little choice but to stretch their budgets, Alev said. In particular, parents seem to be worried about how expensive items have gotten. 60% said that skyhigh prices on items is the reason they will struggle with shopping lists this year, with 38% revealing they expect to spend between $501 to $1,500. According to a new Deloitte report, they aren’t far off. While prices on items have gone slightly down since last year, back-to-school spending for K12 students is massively expensive, costing parents $570 per child on average, or around $30.8 billion total. Adding to parents’ expenses are their kids’ own list of “must-haves,” or, nonessential items they see on social media and sometimes feel (because it appears online like everyone has them) are necessary commodities. JellyCats and Labubu Dolls are particularly huge this year. And 51% of parents say their kids are begging for trending items. More than half (54%) say they do feel pressured to get their kids the items their IRL friends or social media friends have, too. Alev urges parents to trim what they can, staying away from buying the nonessential trending items, saying, “consider using it as an opportunity to have a thoughtful, age-appropriate conversation with your kids about money, teaching them the importance of budgeting and prioritizing needs over wants.
Category:
E-Commerce
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