It's not too early to start tax planning for 2019. While changes from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act dominate the subject of new tax rules for individuals and businesses, there are still other considerations afoot that affect 2019 tax planning. Some tax rules have yet to be settled for 2019. Here is a roundup of what information you can use now to plan ahead as well as what could change to impact tax planning for the future.

Unsettled Tax Matters

The mid-term election gave the majority of the House to Democrats while Republicans kept control of the Senate. A divided Congress doesn't bode well for a resolution of the following unsettled tax matters:

Expired tax rules. A number of tax provisions for individuals and businesses expired at the end of 2017. Some or all of them could be extended retroactively (recall that provisions that expired at the end of 2016 were not extended for 2017 until February 2018). If extended, it's unclear whether this will only be for one year (2018) or will apply to 2019 as well. What's more, there are some provisions set to expire at the end of 2018 (e.g., the 7.5 percent-of-adjusted-gross-income floor for itemized medical deductions) and at the end of 2019 (e.g., work opportunity credit). It's unclear what will happen to these tax rules.

Tax reform 2.0. The House has been moving forward on enacting more tax changes, primarily benefiting the middle class and small businesses. More specifically, the House Ways and Means Committee has approved: