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Byler, Wolfe, Lutsch & Kampfer principal Daniel Wolfe recently participated in the Youngstown Business Journal’s Tax Reform Roundtable discussion, along with other well-known CPAs from around the Mahoning Valley.

Wolfe discussed how tax reform has affected both personal and businesses. A major change for small business is the “Qualified Business Deduction,” which in general terms grants a small business owner the ability to pay tax on only 80% of their net income. On the individual side, the standard deduction (example: joint return) increased from $12,400 to $24,000. In the area ofiItemized deductions, almost all miscellaneous deductions were eliminated and there is a $10,000 cap on the SALT deduction (State and Local Taxes).

“With the standard deduction increase many people didn’t have the capability of itemizing deductions this year.” Said Wolfe during the forum. “Some individuals that may have had that based on past numbers couldn’t. I had salesmen who put 60,000 miles a year on their car. That was a $30,000 deduction that was previously itemized. They did away with the 2% minimum miscellaneous deduction, which mileage falls into as a business expense, thereby eliminating the deduction of $30,000.”

Coverage of the roundtable appears in the mid-August print edition and online here.