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Even before the ink was dry on President Donald Trump鈥檚 signature on a tax bill in December, certified public accountants were poring over the new rules to see how their business clients might be impacted.

At local accounting firms with construction divisions, CPAs and other industry professionals are already fielding calls from developers, contractors, and architecture and engineering firms seeking information about details. With most aspects of the bill going into effect this year, the outlook for most companies in the building industry in Oregon is a mixed bag, local CPAs say.

Among one of the brightest bits of news related to the bill comes in the area of expensing deductions for property and equipment, according to Joe Schneid, a CPA and tax partner in the construction division at Aldrich CPAs + Advisors. In the past, companies have been able to deduct 50 percent of the cost of new equipment and property purchased. Under the new bill, the deduction has been increased to 100 percent of the cost, and applies to the purchase of both new and used equipment and property for the year it鈥檚 put into service.

That 100 percent amount will hold through 2022.

鈥淎fter that, it starts to phase out,鈥� Schneid said.

There鈥檚 more good news for companies organized as C corporations. Those companies, which are usually large and traded publicly, will see their federal tax rate decrease from 35 percent to 21 percent.

While Oregon has some C corporations, most companies are organized under designations such as S corporations or limited liability companies. Those businesses weren鈥檛 forgotten when it comes to new rules for the federal tax rate, however.

鈥淢ost pass-through businesses 鈥� including real estate developers and construction contractors, architects and engineers — should enjoy a 20-percent-of-business-income deduction in their tax returns,鈥� Schneid said.

Other details of the new tax bill aren鈥檛 necessarily as well defined or easy to predict 鈥� for a number of reasons.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of fine print or details that really aren鈥檛 worked out yet,鈥� Schneid said.

In Oregon, one of the largest areas of gray has to do with how taxable income is calculated. Traditionally, the state has followed federal laws. But Oregon has yet to align its existing calculation scheme with the sweeping federal changes. While there鈥檚 a chance state legislators could tackle that issue during the upcoming session that starts in February, Schneid thinks it鈥檚 unlikely. The session is a short one, slated to last just 35 days.

Without a change in legislation, Schneid said, taxpayers may find themselves forced to calculate federal taxes under the new federal rules and state taxes under the old rules. The best way to prepare: keep detailed records.

鈥淒on鈥檛 assume that you won鈥檛 need official records just because the law has changed,鈥� Schneid said. 鈥淵ou still need to do the same (documentation).鈥�