The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was passed in 2017, but several of its provisions will likely expire in a couple of years, and that will affect the tax planning of not only individuals but businesses and their owners. That’s not to mention other tax-law changes that will kick in before the end of 2025.

Timothy Laffey, head of tax policy and research advisory at Rockefeller Global Family Office in Philadelphia, says some things about the change will require more immediate attention than others.

The changes after 2025 will affect qualified business income, bonus depreciation and the limitation on state and local tax deductions. Also set to change are individual income tax rates and brackets, the standard deduction, personal exemptions and miscellaneous itemized deductions.

The accelerated business tax deduction allows businesses to immediately deduct a large percentage of the purchase price of eligible assets. Businesses were allowed to deduct 100% immediately in 2022, and only 80% immediately in 2023 (after that it steps down to 60% in 2024, 40% in 2025 … until it goes to 20% in 2026 and then to zero).

This means now might be the moment to buy certain business assets. “Currently, businesses can write off up to 80% of the purchase price of an asset placed into service within the calendar year and depreciate the remaining 20% over the next several years,” says Brett Walters, financial planner at TBH Advisors in Brentwood, Tenn.

“For example, if the business purchases a vehicle with a [gross weight] of 6,000 pounds or more, the business can deduct 80% of the purchase price within the year the vehicle was placed into service, as long as the vehicle is used solely for the business,” Walters says.

The end of the qualified business income deduction, which allows business owners to deduct up to 20% of their income from pass-through businesses, also means owners might need to rethink their corporate structures when the law expires, Laffey says, since the end of that deduction will make pass-through entities less attractive.

“With the qualified business income deduction set to expire at the end of 2025 and the 21% corporate tax rate remaining in place indefinitely, pass-through entities may want to begin discussing whether a conversion to a C corp at the end of 2025 would make financial sense,” he says.

Richard Pianoforte, managing director at Fiduciary Trust International in New York, says that business owners meanwhile need to remember to take care of their personal future finances, too, and “make the maximum deductible contributions to retirement accounts.”

“Business owners can take advantage of SEP [Simplified Employee Pension] IRAs to reduce their overall income and at the same time set aside some money for retirement,” he says.

“You can also try to postpone income into the next year such as holding off on taking capital gains on appreciated stock, deferred stock options or deferring bonus income if possible,” Pianoforte adds. “If you’re currently in required minimum distribution status with your IRA and at least 70½ years old, [you can] use a qualified charitable distribution to give up to $100,000 directly from your IRA to an eligible charity without paying tax on it.”

Business owners with a traditional IRA, like other holders of such accounts, should look into Roth conversions, particularly if they are young owners facing the likelihood of higher tax rates in the future.

But they shouldn’t pay so much that it tips them past the 24% tax bracket, Walters says, “and it’s best if the taxes from the conversion are paid from an outside source and not from the converted Roth IRA. The younger the taxpayer, the greater the long-term benefit from annual Roth conversions, because the investments in the converted Roth IRA will replenish the taxes paid on the conversion.”

Walters adds, “Self-employed business owners should consider opening and funding a solo 401(k) or individual 401(k) by December 31. … If they don’t have employees, they may be able to make a deductible contribution to the qualified plan of up to $66,000 for the tax year 2023, either as employee contributions or profit sharing—but the plan must be opened before the end of the tax year.”