The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, voted into law in late 2017, is the most sweeping tax reform since 1986.

The changes were big enough to encourage tax professionals and business owners to gather and learn how those changes will affect them and their businesses.

The accounting firm Kronick Kalada Berdy & Company, Kingston, held an informational forum at Macaluso’s Restaurant for Carbon County business owners and tax professionals to help guide them through the changes and answer questions about the reform bill.

Ron Ulitchney, a certified public accountant and partner in the firm, detailed the reform for individual taxpayers.

He told the crowd that there are many good things for individuals and families in the bill, such as the higher standard deduction which nearly doubled from $12,700 to $24,000 for couples filing a joint return.

“Fewer taxpayers will have to itemize deductions as a result of this change,” Ulitchney noted.

“Also, the child tax credit doubled from $1,000 to $2,000 and fewer families will be affected by the alternative minimum tax.”

Ulitchney also noted the lower tax rates and simplified income brackets.

“People are already feeling the benefit of this. They are seeing it in their paychecks,” he said.

Jason Williams, also a CPA and partner in the accounting firm, took the floor to explain the business side of the reform, spending the bulk of his time on the Qualified Business Income Deduction.

The deduction reduces the amount of income that would pass through to the small business owner and be taxed at the higher individual rate.

“The QBI deduction is the most significant change of the whole reform,” Williams said.

“That change is having a big effect on the economy. Every business benefits from it.”

Williams did note, however, that some professional services businesses such as doctors, lawyers, and accountants may not see as great a benefit.

“It may be a little harder for them to benefit from the deduction.”

Both Ulitchney and Williams said the reform is having a great effect on both the national and local economy.

“We have clients that immediately started giving employee bonuses as a result of the change,” said Williams.

Allowing businesses to deduct one hundred percent of the cost of equipment in the first year is also having a positive effect, Ulitchney said. “That’s helping businesses that want to expand.”

The gathered professionals also heard from Russell Mehnert, vice president of sales and marketing for Diversified Payroll Solutions in Forty Fort.

Mehnert encouraged business owners and human resource professionals not to overlook the Work Opportunity Tax Credit, which yields tax credits to businesses that hire employees from designated groups, such as veterans, those currently receiving some type of subsidy or aid, and anyone who has been unemployed for longer than six consecutive months.

Businesses could also hire individuals from “empowerment zones,” which are economically distressed areas and earn the credit.

Those zones are determined by the federal government.

The credits range in value from $1,200 to $9,600, depending on the employee’s situation.

Also represented at the meeting was the Carbon County Community Foundation, a nonprofit organization formed in 2015 to improve the quality of life for residents of Carbon County.

The foundation states that it will accomplish its mission by encouraging charitable giving for the benefit of the community, bring resources and ideas together, and create funds to help every aspect of community living from arts and culture to economic development.

Amber Breiner, executive director of the foundation, concluded the program with a presentation encourage the financial professionals in the room to let their clients know how it can help set up legacies for them in the community.

“We vow to stay in touch with the needs of the community and ensure that the wishes of donors are faithfully carried out,” Breiner said.