Year-End Tax Planning: Credits & Incentives to Review Before December 31st

The best year-end tax planning doesn’t just look back. It looks ahead.

As CPAs review 2026 financials and prepare for tax season, one more conversation is worth having before December 31st: Are we capturing every available credit and incentive, and planning for what comes next?

Economic development incentives can generate significant savings tied to capital investments, equipment purchases, job creation, workforce training, and real estate expansion. Yet opportunities are often missed because businesses overlook qualifying activities, fail to revisit existing awards, or wait too long to explore incentives for future projects.

Below is a five-step year-end checklist CPAs can use to uncover credits and incentives for their clients, plus the questions that open the door.

Step 1: Review 2026 Activity for Missed Incentive Opportunities

Start with what already happened. Review the client’s 2026 activity for:

• New hires or workforce growth
• Equipment and machinery purchases
• Facility improvements, build-outs, or new leases
• Expansion into new markets or locations

Any of these may have created incentive opportunities the client hasn’t identified or claimed. Some programs allow retroactive or current-year benefits; others close the door once a project is underway. A quick review now shows which is which.

Step 2: Maximize Existing Incentive Awards

Has the client already secured incentives, or pursued them on their own? Existing awards deserve a year-end look:

• Review incentive agreements and confirm benefits are actually being realized
• Identify credits that were awarded but not yet claimed
• Check whether the scope of the project has grown beyond the original award
• Confirm upcoming reporting and certification deadlines

Awards a client negotiated independently are especially worth reviewing. They’re most likely to have unclaimed value or compliance gaps.

Step 3: Plan for Incentives Tied to Future Growth

Ask what the next one to three years look like. Planned investments that may qualify include:

• New facilities, expansions, or relocations
• Major capital and equipment investment
• Acquisitions and consolidations
• Significant workforce growth

The window to capture these incentives opens long before construction starts. Once a business signs a lease, issues a press release, or breaks ground, the business eliminates many program options.

Case in point: A Midwest manufacturer planning an expansion worked with McGuire Sponsel to evaluate its one-to-three-year growth strategy before committing to the project. The result was a $2.3 million incentive package, including payroll tax credits supporting 40 new jobs, without altering or delaying operations.

Step 4: Protect Awarded Benefits Through Incentive Compliance

Incentives don’t end once an award is secured. Most agreements carry ongoing obligations:

• Annual reporting and certification deadlines
• Job creation and wage commitments
• Capital investment thresholds and timelines

Missing a requirement can reduce benefits or trigger clawbacks. Ongoing incentive compliance support helps clients protect awarded benefits and turn them into realized savings. Year-end is a natural time to confirm the client is on track.

Step 5: Turn Planning into Opportunity

A great final step is to bring the right advisors to the table. Incentive opportunities surface in many conversations, not only tax ones:

• CPAs can expand the year-end planning meeting to include growth plans
• Commercial real estate brokers can ask clients about new locations, lease decisions, and site needs
• Bankers often see capital investment and equipment financing first
• Private equity firms can evaluate incentives across portfolio companies and acquisitions

When these advisors coordinate early, clients capture value that would otherwise be missed.

Year-End Credits & Incentives Checklist for CPAs

• Did the client add jobs, buy equipment, or improve facilities in 2026?
• Does the client hold existing incentive agreements, and do they realize the benefits?
• Are any incentive reporting or compliance deadlines coming up?
• What investments, locations, or hiring plans will your client pursue over the next one to three years?
• Has any of your clients publicly announced or committed to any planned project yet?
• Should a credits and incentives specialist join the planning conversation?

The Bottom Line

Year-end tax planning shouldn’t stop at what a business owes. It should also consider what a business is building.

McGuire Sponsel’s Location Advisory and Credits & Incentives team works alongside CPAs, commercial real estate brokers, bankers, private equity firms, and their clients to evaluate opportunities, review existing awards, pursue available benefits, and manage compliance.

Before December 31st, ask one more question: “What are you planning to do over the next three years?”

That question could uncover value your client never knew was available.

Think ahead. Find the opportunity. Capture the value. Boom.

Schedule a Credits and Incentives Discovery Conversation