Tax reform has only begun. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act made some major changes to tax law. But what happens now. How will businesses know how to comply? The law was just Step 1 of tax reform.

But there is much more work to be done. The 2017 passage of the TCJA set the foundation for how every business in this country will be taxed for the next decade or more. Tax policy affects every single business in the United States. With a new administration in town and a brand new tax law on the books, the process has begun. And it IS a process.  The passing of the law was just the first step.

Companies need to assess the affect of the law on their business in the US and overseas.  Treasury and the IRS need to issue regulations regarding the actual implementation of the law.

And like all major pieces of legislation, a technical corrections bill, at the very least, will need to be passed to clarify provisions and fix inconsistencies, as well as possibly make new changes to sections of the Internal Revenue Code to modify sections of the new law that just don’t work properly.

These actions would be necessary after the passage of any big piece of legislation.  But for the TCJA, the next steps in implementation and correction will be magnified.

The law, while containing many provisions that have been discussed openly for a decade, also contains provisions that are brand new, and  were passed with a speed and momentum unseen in Congress. There is a long road ahead on tax-both in the regulatory arena and the legislative arena. Everyone is playing catch up.

Additionally, there were many provisions that were NOT addressed in the TCJA- like ENERGY tax.  Extenders are still part of the process.

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