Yes, bonuses are still taxed under the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB), but the OBBB introduces specific deductions for certain types of bonus-like pay (like overtime premiums) and a special bonus deduction for seniors, meaning how they're treated depends on the type of bonus and your income, with normal bonuses taxed as supplemental wages but new breaks available for others. The OBBB creates a federal income tax deduction for certain overtime/premium pay and a senior bonus deduction, but regular salary bonuses (like annual performance bonuses) are still subject to standard supplemental wage withholding (often 22% flat rate) unless they qualify for one of these new exemptions, notes Forbes https://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2026/01/15/100-bonus-depreciation-is-back-heres-what-businesses-need-to- know/.
President Donald Trump's "big beautiful" tax law provides a new senior "bonus" or deduction of up to $6,000 per individual or $12,000 for married couples. The temporary deduction applies to taxpayers ages 65 and over whose income is within certain thresholds.
New and Final Law Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act reinstates 100% bonus depreciation for assets acquired after January 19, 2025.
The One, Big, Beautiful Bill Provides the Biggest Relief to Low-Income Families. The One, Big, Beautiful Bill will cut taxes for Americans earning under $50,000 by 14.9%. 66% of The One, Big, Beautiful Bill's tax cuts benefit families making less than $500,000.
1, The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (the Act) contains a number of changes to employee benefits. These changes include, for example, enhancement of the employer-provided childcare credit and the elimination of the bike commuter reimbursement program.
Under OBBBA, the credit percentage will increase to 40% for most employers and 50% for eligible small businesses, while the annual cap will rise to $500,000 – or $600,000 for eligible small businesses – with both caps subject to annual inflation adjustments starting in 2026.
The OBBB also provides more than $170 billion for immigration and border enforcement activities to the Department of Homeland Security — including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection — and to the Department of Defense.
If the individual tax cuts expire, taxpayers in all income groups would face higher and more complicated taxes. Machinery and equipment expensing is a key provision that, if allowed to expire, would especially harm capital-intensive industries like manufacturing.
One of the most significant changes for financial institutions is the interest income exclusion related to agricultural loans. Through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, banks are now allowed to exclude 25% of their interest income from qualifying loans.
You can't entirely avoid taxes on a bonus, but you can significantly lower the amount by contributing to tax-advantaged accounts (401(k), IRA, HSA), deferring the bonus to a year you expect to be in a lower tax bracket, or making charitable donations, thereby reducing your taxable income or increasing deductions at tax time.
Yes, 100% bonus depreciation is back for eligible property acquired and placed in service after January 19, 2025, thanks to the "One, Big, Beautiful Bill" (OBBB) Act, which permanently reinstated it, reversing the phase-out schedule that would have reduced it to 40% for 2025 under prior law. This allows businesses to deduct the full cost of new equipment, machinery, and other qualified assets in the first year, significantly impacting tax planning.
Deduction percentage
For most qualifying business property bought and put into use after Jan. 19, 2025, businesses can now deduct 100 percent of the cost in the first year. This means they do not have to spread the deduction over several years.
Some of the major tax changes effective from April 1, 2025, are revised tax slabs, rebate of up to Rs. 60,000, revised ITRU deadlines, calculation of partner's remuneration allowable as a deduction and revised TDS/TCS threshold limits.
On July 4, 2025, President Trump signed the 2025 tax reform into law as P.L. 119-21, Republicans' “One Big Beautiful Bill.” Among its most impactful provisions is the permanent restoration of 100% bonus depreciation, offering long-term clarity for tax planning and capital investment strategies.
Trump Tax Plan Changes: Standard Deduction
The 2017 Trump tax law (TCJA) nearly doubled the standard deduction for all filers, and OBBB bumped them up. If you're a single filer or if you're married filing separately, your standard deduction for 2025 rose to $15,750 under OBBBA.
High-Income Taxpayers Paid the Majority of Federal Income Taxes. In 2022, the bottom half of taxpayers earned 11.5 percent of total AGI and paid 3 percent of all federal individual income taxes. The top 1 percent earned 22.4 percent of total AGI and paid 40.4 percent of all federal income taxes.