Tax Reform:  Holy Changes Batman!
 
Chicago’s August speakers, Robert Nowak and Jerod Violett of Baker Tilly provided a comprehensive overview of recent tax reforms.  Everything from impacts to individuals, to the new corporate tax rates, the 20% pass-through deduction, 30% business interest deduction limitation, bonus depreciation, qualified properties and the expansion of §179 (expensing and property definitions).  It became evident that what sellers and buyers in the real estate arena thought were good economic models for their clients six months ago may not be true today given all the reforms.  There are real opportunities to create even more advantageous models.  Once all tax reform questions were addressed, the attendees revisited the topic discussed last month regarding Opportunity Zones.  As Mr. Nowak noted, “Opportunity Zones are one of the best kept secrets in the real estate world, especially on the deal side.”