Too Wealthy for New Tax Write-Off? Just Fund Your Retirement Plan

Tax planners are eyeing a way to help upper-middle-income clients, such as doctors, accountants, and lawyers, cash in on one of the 2017 tax overhaul’s perks for business owners—even if they’re above the level of income at which the law’s restriction on the benefit kicks in.

Those individuals could donate to charity to reduce their taxable income and hop under the income barriers that keep super-wealthy people from benefiting from a deduction meant for small businesses. They also could—and in many cases likely will—keep the money, by putting it into a 401(k) or individual retirement arrangement (IRA), saving tens of ...