FINANCIAL advisers and accountants are working overtime as many U.S. taxpayers scramble to pay the rest of their 2017 taxes before Jan. 1, when the proposed Republican tax overhaul would sharply cut the amount they can deduct on federal tax bills.

The tax legislation, which top U.S. Republicans said Sunday they expected Congress to pass this week, caps the amount of state, local and property taxes individuals can deduct from their federal tax bills at US$10,000.

The average American who itemized his or her tax bill in 2015 claimed more than US$27,000 in deductions. While taxpayers have until Jan. 15 to pay the final installment of their 2017 taxes, Tom Holly of the accounting firm PwC said he received dozens of calls over the weekend from concerned clients eager to pay sooner.

“It’s going to be a very busy holiday season for advisers,” said Holly, who heads the firm’s wealth and asset management division.

Lisa Featherngill, managing director of wealth planning at Wells Fargo’s Abbot Downing, said she was skipping a family trip to the Valero Alamo Bowl football game in Texas on Dec. 28 in order to work.

Featherngill said wealthy clients and their accountants were not just trying to figure out if it makes sense to estimate and pay the rest of their 2017 itemized taxes this year, but also working to see if they should itemize at all.

Some taxpayers, particularly those in high-tax states who have income above US$100,000, may end up paying the alternative minimum tax, which limits the deductions a person can take against his or her federal income tax.

“People really have to run the numbers because ... if they are subject to alternative minimum tax, some of those taxes wouldn’t be deductible anyway,” said Featherngill. (SD-Agencies)