House and Senate Republicans are getting closer to an agreement on a final version of the extraordinarily important tax bill and could reach such a deal this week. We could see final version of the bill at the end of the week with a possible vote in both the Senate and the House next week.

No matter when we see the final version, there will be very little time to figure out how it affects you, and to take advantage of year-end tax planning opportunities. For example, some experts predict 90% of taxpayers will not itemize after 2017 if the Bill becomes law. This means 2017 could be the last year 90% of taxpayers can deduct charitable contributions (those affected taxpayers should consider prepaying 2018 and 2019 charitable contributions before 12/31/17). We will not know for sure which of these strategies are right for you until we see the final version of the bill. So, we will stay alert.

The Weekly Commentary will continue to report on this time critical topic as it is finalized.