Nearly everyone knows about the famous 1970s television series ”The Brady Bunch:” two parents, six children, a housekeeper, and a dog all under one roof. In fact the house shown as the exterior on the show just sold for 3.5 million dollars.

Now, in 2018, another bunch is looking to sweep across America and grab ahold of the American taxpayer: the bunching of charitable donations, deductions, and contributions on one tax return for maximum effectiveness.

A little over two years ago, there was a Facebook post that caught national attention. The post simply asked “What color dress do you see?” Was it blue and black or white and gold? Some people saw it one way and couldn’t imagine it be anything else. Others were uncertain because they saw it one color one day and another color the next. For the people who were sure they were right, they weighed in on the public debate, while others that were unsure may have chosen to hold back from weighing in. After a few weeks, the fervor died down and life went back to normal.

Such is the situation we find ourselves in with the conversion to a C Corporation. When the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was passed, articles were written that touted all business owners would make the conversion to take advantage of the reduced tax rates. Nothing could shake these authors from their thoughts. There were other authors who were uncertain. Turns out, they are both correct. No matter where you land on the issue, business owners will respond based on how they feel.

Whether you are finishing up your 2017 federal and state tax returns, or trying to figure out how the new tax laws apply to your business, the next tax deadline could be as soon as tomorrow. Tomorrow is the day that you could finalize your 2017 taxes, start the process of educating yourself on the new tax laws, or make an appointment to review your current 2018 tax situation with your trusted advisor. No matter where you are in the process, setting a deadline is helpful to achieve your goals.

With the federal tax deadline behind us, you might be thinking you’re done with tax deadlines for a while. But if you own commercial property, you’re not quite in the clear. You’ve likely already received your notice of appraised value from your county, but have you filed your commercial property tax protest yet? The deadline to file a protest is fast approaching, and with so many different tax deadlines to keep up with, it’s easy to forget one.

Business owners whose companies are structured as pass-through entities (where income passes through to the Form 1040 and is taxed at personal income tax rates) sometimes think they may do better if they switch their business to a C Corporation. In a C Corporation, income is taxed at the business level, and is a flat 21% tax rate. The process to determine whether or not to switch is one of the hotly debated topics among CPAs and clients this tax season. Answers to this question include yes, no, maybe, and my favorite: it depends. In the end, the answer is universally subjective, not only to each type of business, but to each individual.

In last month’s article, I highlighted the changes to pass-through businesses posed by the new tax bill. Today, let’s look at deductions that affect all businesses, but specifically medium to large size businesses.