Whether the Republican tax cut bill passes or not, this is likely to be a 'working holiday' for local tax accountants, who are getting deluged with questions ahead of the end of the tax year, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
Diane White, Senior Tax Manager at San Antonio ATKG, says clients are desperate to get her opinion of how the tax bill might affect them. She says its a mixed bag for a lot of taxpayers.
"Generally, they're lowering tax rates, but at the same time, they're also getting rid of some of the tax deductions," she says.
White says a lot of questions are from people who are trying to maximize their situation by trying to take tax deductions that may be going away in 2018 by paying estimated taxes early.
"There are proposals for not allowing prepayment of certain property taxes, but as long as it pertains to a current bill, you should be able to utilize that, because most people's property taxes aren't due until January."
She says people who are self employed and make quarterly tax payments are hoping, for example, to be able to deduct their property taxes in full by making the January 15 quarterly payment before January 1, to take advantage of the deductions.
"We may be able to utilize taking some of the stuff that might be going away in '17, as opposed to trying to deal with it in '18," she said.
Many taxpayers, for example, will be hit by a proposal to limit local and property taxes that can be deducted to $10,000.
White says despite the crunch of tax time, which usually doesn't start until after January 1, beginning sooner, she hopes to be able to still capture some holiday cheer with her family.