Tax collectors in communities across the country are seeing a surge in property tax prepayments before the new year from residents looking to cash in — for one last year — on a deduction that the coming tax overhaul will limit.

The new law imposes a $10,000 limit on the combined sum of property and state and local income taxes that a household could deduct. The $10,000 cap will help pay for corporate and personal tax cuts totaling $1.5 trillion over the next decade, the Associated Press reports. The changes go into effect Jan. 1.

Brown County Treasurer Mary Smith said she was busy last week taking calls and entering prepayments, and her chief deputy, Andy Bond, has been handling several of them this week.

“There is a lot of discussion among treasurers about whether or not prepayments should be accepted,” Smith said. “It has always been the policy in my office while I have been here (since 2001) that if someone wants to make a tax payment, we take it.

“We always let the taxpayer know we are not legal counsel and definitely not an income tax preparer if they ask questions, so we give no advice,” she added.

Since a national income tax began more than 100 years ago, people have been allowed to deduct from their income the amount they’ve paid for state and local taxes.

But under the tax legislation President Donald Trump signed into law last week, there’s a $10,000 cap on the deductions. That’s going to hit hard in states such as California, Connecticut, New York and New Jersey — states where the average state and local deductions in 2015 all topped $17,000.

Roughly a third of American taxpayers have enough expenses to itemize their deductions, and nearly all who do so deduct their state, local and property taxes, the AP reports.

The Republican tax bill nearly doubles — to $24,000 — a family’s standard deduction, which goes to taxpayers who don’t itemize their deductions. So there would automatically be fewer people who would deduct their state and local taxes, the AP reports. But in addition, many households in high-tax states could no longer itemize their deductions because of the new cap on state and local taxes.

It’s not clear what deductions the IRS will accept in the coming year. The new law specifically bars taking deductions for income taxes paid ahead of time, but it is silent on prepaid local property taxes.

Smith said anyone wishing to prepay their taxes needs to come into the treasurer’s office at the County Office Building to do so.

“We have told people they need to make sure their payment is in our office by Friday, and we cannot accept postmark on this type of payment because of end-of-year procedures,” Smith said.