Rather, the one-page outline that the White House released on Wednesday is more of a guideline to begin negotiations with Congress. It is a starting point.

With that caveat in mind — that is, the end result will most likely be quite different in some respects — GlobeSt.com has created a FAQ for the commercial real estate industry on how this proposal will affect our piece of the economy.

What are the highlights for business?

It reduces the tax rate to 15% — not only for corporations but also for companies that pay taxes through the personal income tax code. This includes a wide swath of companies including many real estate shops.

Any entity that uses a pass-through structure — hedge funds, large partnerships etc — come out as winners under this plan as they currently pay taxes at individual rates, which reach a high of 39.6%. This is a significant windfall, Marc Landis, managing partner of Phillips Nizer LLP tells GlobeSt.com. “If you have a partnership or LLC your effective tax rate under this proposal will be 15%.”

What about individuals?

For individuals, the plan whittles the number of income tax brackets down from seven to three and increases the standard deduction. The new rates would be 10%, 25% and 35%. Deductions for charitable giving and mortgage interest payments will remain, as will deductions for retirement savings. There will be some kind of tax relief for child care expenses.

Most other deductions will be eliminated including state and local tax payments.

The plan also kills the alternative-minimum tax and the estate tax.

What doesn't the plan have?

The plan has dropped the proposal for a border adjustment tax. It also didn't address key issues of depreciation, like kind exchanges or expensing.

Besides the low tax rate, how else might commercial real estate benefit?

Savills Studley Chief Economist Heidi Learner says it could lead to a preference for rental housing over home ownership. “A higher standard deduction could mean the incentive from itemizing deductions such as mortgage interest disappear for some,” she says. “If the financial benefit from deducting mortgage interest is no longer part of the equation, it's possible that the allure of homeownership could fade for certain individuals.”

What is the downside to the CRE community under this plan?

The 15% tax rate will likely attract new capital into the equity stack — which is a positive — but that will likely lead to an increase in prices, Landis says. Also, much depends on how it will be paid for, he adds. “If it is paid for by the issuance of more US Treasuries we will see higher interest rates.

What input will the CRE industry have in the plan as the details are being worked out?

Every association and industry lobbying group will be working with Congress to make sure their constituents' interests are represented. “We are supportive of tax reform and the core principles that the president talked about — which is, we need tax reform to spur job growth and to expand the economy and make the tax laws simpler,” Real Estate Roundtable CEO Jeff DeBoer tells GlobeSt.com. “Our point of view is we will try to make sure that the resulting tax law preserves real estate's very positive role in the economy.”

Can it pass?

Most assuredly, the Trump Administration will work very hard on what it sees as one of its signature issues. Also, Republicans can, in theory, be expected to line up behind the plan. That said, fiscal hawks are going to be opposed to any plan that increases the federal deficit and a recent post by The Tax Foundation concluded that the proposed tax cuts will not generate enough economic growth to pay for the plan. “…the basic back-of-the-envelope math tells you that the corporate income tax cut would need to add about 1 percentage point to growth for 10 years to be self-financing during the 10-year budget window,” the Tax Foundation wrote. “The model predicts something more like 0.4% over the budget window: a sustained period of 2.3% growth instead of 1.9% growth, until the economy is eventually about 4% larger.”

But, again, this is just the starting point. As noted above, many in Congress and the Trump Administration will be working hard to make this to happen.

When will the plan be finalized and signed?

Not by August, which was one of the earliest, most ambitious projections. The best guess is sometime in 2018. “This is going to be a longer process than most people expect,” DeBoer says. “Every step along the way is an important step and requires a lot of focus and attention.”