That won’t happen all at once, though.
The key provisions in Trump’s law, which he called the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” will take effect at different times over several years. The facets of the law have varying degrees of popularity with the American public, according to a recent Washington Post-Ipsos poll. Many of the more unpopular policies in the legislation will not kick in until after the 2026 midterm elections, possibly minimizing the political damage to Republicans that some in their party previously warned the bill could inflict. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO), a nonpartisan agency that vets the cost of major legislation, projects the bill will add $3.4 trillion to the national debt over the next decade.
Here’s a look at when certain provisions from the legislation are scheduled to take effect.
2025 changes: Extended tax cuts, new SNAP work requirements and the end of EV and green home credits
Effective right away, the new law permanently extends trillions of dollars of tax cuts enacted in 2017 during Trump’s first term that otherwise were set to expire at the end of this year. Those included cuts for corporate businesses and for all income levels, though the highest-earning households saw the biggest benefits. The new law also raises the limit on how much people can deduct in state and local taxes — known as the SALT cap — from their federal returns, from $10,000 to $40,000 a year.
Under the new GOP bill, the standard deduction will increase to $15,750 for an individual ($31,500 for a married couple filing jointly) and the child tax credit will increase from $2,000 to $2,200 per child, to be adjusted for inflation each year. However, some noncitizens are now barred from claiming the latter, even if their children are American citizens.
Also essentially kicking in right away are many of the policies Trump promised during his campaign, such as no taxes on tips, overtime compensation or car-loan interest. A worker earning less than $150,000 a year can exclude up to $25,000 of tip income and up to $12,500 of overtime compensation from being taxed. People age 65 and older earning up to $75,000 a year can deduct an additional $6,000, with lower deductions for those earning more. The deductions are all retroactive to Jan. 1 and can be claimed when filing taxes next year.
Finally, the law mandates new, more stringent work requirements for those on SNAP, formerly known as food stamps. Adults aged 19-64 who don’t have dependents must prove they are working, volunteering or going to school for a certain number of hours each month to qualify for federal food assistance. (SNAP’s previous work requirements apply to adult recipients up to 54 years old, without dependents.) Requirements will be phased in now through 2029, depending on how states look to supplement the program without federal help. Groups that are likely to see benefit changes this year are veterans, parents with children 14 to 17 years of age, foster youths and people between 55 and 65 years old.
What’s getting cut this year? The legislation ends several green- and clean-energy initiatives enacted under President Joe Biden. Under the Inflation Reduction Act, which Biden signed into law in 2022, certain electric vehicle purchases qualified for a tax credit for anywhere from $4,000 to $7,500. That incentive is now set to end on Sept. 30, instead of in 2032.
Other credits for green home improvement projects — including the Residential Clean Energy Credit and the Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit — are also due to sunset on Dec. 31 because of the GOP law. Those credits have been offered for the purchase and installation of things like household solar panels, home batteries and solar water heaters, as well as for homeowners to upgrade to more energy-efficient appliances or improve insulation.
2026 changes: Higher health insurance premiums, student loan restrictions leading up to the midterms
As the new coverage year starts for health insurance plans purchased on the Affordable Care Act marketplace, people are likely to see new restrictions and higher premiums because of Trump’s law that allows pandemic-era enhanced subsidies to expire at the end of 2025. The CBO estimates that 4.2 million people will lose insurance as a result of losing those subsidies that made coverage affordable.
On June 30, 2026, credits for installing a home EV charger will end.
Several new restrictions and changes to federal student loan programs are set to kick in on July 1, 2026. Being eliminated are the Graduate PLUS student loan program, as well as the SAVE, PAYE and ICR student loan repayment plans, which are based on income level. New student loan borrowers must choose between one of two repayment plans approved under the new GOP legislation. Parent PLUS loans — which previously allowed parents to borrow up to a student’s full cost of attendance — also will be capped at $20,000 per year, or $65,000 total per student.
Throughout the year, both parties are expected to use the changes enacted in the law as campaign fodder for the midterm elections on Nov. 3, 2026, with Republicans likely to tout the tax cuts that will have already gone into effect. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) has projected confidence Republicans will not lose seats because of the legislation, even as Democrats have seized on its unpopularity to kick-start their efforts to take back the House majority next year.
2027 changes: New Medicaid work requirements, shifting some SNAP payment costs to states, shorter ACA enrollment period
With midterm elections in the rearview mirror, this is the year that the least popular aspects of the law are set to take effect. Jan. 1, 2027, is the deadline for most states to implement new Medicaid work requirements for people who became eligible for Medicaid under the 2010 Affordable Care Act’s expansion of the program, though some states may get exemptions for up to two years. Similar to the new SNAP work requirements, adults 19-64 will have to prove they are working, volunteering or going to school for a certain number of hours per month to qualify for Medicaid.
The bill provides exemptions for certain groups, including those who are pregnant, disabled or taking care of dependent children 13 or younger — but those recipients could still lose their health insurance if they don’t submit paperwork proving their exemption. The bill requires that states conduct an extra eligibility check every six months, starting in 2027, which could open the door to people losing coverage midyear.
On Oct. 1, 2027, most states will begin to be required to cover some SNAP benefit costs previously covered entirely by the federal government. The amount will be based on a state’s “error rate,” or how accurately a state has calculated eligibility for the food-assistance program. The higher a state’s error rate, the greater a percentage of SNAP benefit costs it will have to pay. Experts warn that shifting the cost from federal to state governments could jeopardize SNAP users, farmers and state budgets.
An exception to the above? States with the highest error rates will be granted a two-year delay from taking on some SNAP benefit costs — one of the last-minute carve-outs made to persuade Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) to vote for the bill.
Starting in November 2027, the GOP tax law will shrink the open enrollment period for the ACA marketplace from two months to one month.
2028 changes: New out-of-pocket costs for low-income Medicaid recipients — and the next presidential election
This is the year that most permanent funding changes to Medicaid kick in, namely the gradual reduction of provider taxes and state-directed payments that experts say are likely to cause states to have to make cuts to their programs. The Trump administration has cast the cuts as “strengthening Medicaid by eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse,” but the CBO projected the nearly $1 trillion cuts to Medicaid alone will result in 11.8 million more uninsured Americans by 2034.
July 1, 2028, is the deadline for student loan borrowers to change to one of the two new repayment plans approved under Trump’s law.
Starting Oct. 1, 2028, those who became eligible for Medicaid under the ACA’s expansion of the program in 2010 — and whose income is from 100 percent to 138 percent of the federal poverty level (roughly $32,000 to $44,000 for a family of four) — will begin to pay new out-of-pocket costs of up to $35 per service, which experts have said is likely to lead low-income recipients to avoid seeking care.
Possibly the changes that will affect the largest swaths of the population will take place at the end of the year, after the election of a new president. On Dec. 31, 2028, the temporary tax provisions for tips, overtime compensation, seniors, car-loan interest and state and local tax deductions will expire. However, the extension of the 2017 tax cuts — including for corporate businesses and higher-income households — will remain because the law made them permanent.