The comprehensive tax bill passed by Congress this week and awaiting President Donald Trump's signature is filled with changes to corporate tax structures, especially for multinational tech companies.

Tax attorneys told The Recorder that legal departments should be figuring out exactly how the bill affects their individual company, as there are a variety of changes in regulations. But there are some changes that most major tech companies can count on.

Here are four developments in-house lawyers at technology companies should start preparing for, as the legislation—if signed by Trump—will be effective at the start of 2018:

1. Money overseas: The new tax plan could incentivize tech companies such as Apple, which has operations in Ireland and other foreign countries, to bring money abroad back to the United States. Companies that kept money overseas to avoid higher U.S. tax rates may bring that money back to take advantage of the now much lower corporate tax rate. The law also will make it more difficult for U.S. companies to avoid paying taxes on money made abroad. “Tech and pharmaceuticals and life science industries, they have large amounts of money offshore that will be subject to tax under the bill,” said Barton Bassett, a partner at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius who works with tech companies. “That money might be brought back and so companies will need to get their hands around what those number look like.”

2. Domestic expansion: If that money does come back, it could spur growth and expansion throughout the United States. There's two paths that could take—an organic route, where companies open up their own locations in new states, or through mergers and acquisitions. Either way, in-house staff should be prepared for a year of growth into new markets by reading up on regulations around the country. “The design of the new tax plan is that it should encourage companies already in the U.S. to keep the money in the U.S. and expand in the U.S.,” said Sam Dibble, a California-based partner at Baker Botts.  

3. Compensation changes: C-suite executives could see the way they're compensated change under the new tax plan. Changes to tax law will prohibit companies from deducting more than $1 million in payments to their executive management team, including the CEO and, in another new change, the CFO. “Certainly [in-house counsel will] want to look at executive's compensation plans and understand the changes,” Dibble said. “And make sure that the executives understand the compensation changes.”

4. Relocating: Compensation changes won't just be felt by those at the top. Many Silicon Valley engineers' salaries fall into a range that would see taxes increase. States with higher taxes, like California, lost out in the tax plan. And that could lead companies to move away from the United States' unofficial tech capital—meaning lawyers should be looking into tech and tax regulations in other states. “The cost of living in Silicon Valley and California is already very high, even for an engineer,” Dibble said. “The general thought was we have to be in Silicon Valley because that's where the talent is. But the financial difference between being a highly paid employee in Texas or Washington state, where there's a growing tech presence and smaller overhead, means it may be easier for corporations to relocate people. Employees may want to move.”

The new bill has implications for tech companies of every size, inside and outside of Silicon Valley. While these four potential issues are something to look out for in 2018, tax lawyers say the most important action in-house lawyers can take is sitting down, reading the bill and seeing how their company specifically will be impacted. Then, communicate those changes with other departments and start planning.

“The biggest issue is getting in front of your modeling and determining now how the law is going to impact your business,” Bassett said. “This isn't something you want to wait until next year to figure out.”