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December 27, 2017 at 05:07 AM
Inconsistent dates in the Republican tax bill that President Donald Trump signed into law Friday have stirred debate over whether some people might be able to get an extra break on their state and local income taxes by filing early.
While the answer isn’t clear, the debate illustrates the confusion that could result over potential drafting errors in the bill — which Congress passed into law roughly seven weeks after releasing the first legislative text.
“The conference bill included language that explicitly prevents prepayment in 2017 for 2018 state income taxes,” said Chye-Ching Huang of the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in an email. But “there’s a potential drafting glitch that still makes prepaying 2018 income taxes in 2017 something that’s potentially effective.”
Specifically, the language that appears to rule out benefiting by paying 2018 state income taxes before the end of 2017 is preceded by language that might confine that requirement to tax years “beginning after December 31, 2017.”
Victor Thuronyi, a former tax counsel for the International Monetary Fund, wrote in a blog post that Republican tax-writers’ intent was clear — they want to limit state and local tax deductions to $10,000 starting in 2018 — the final language creates an opening.
