Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2018, taxpayers could only deduct a yearly combined maximum of $10,000 of their state income taxes and property taxes on their federal tax return which became known as the SALT limitation.

Deborah Dickson, Managing Partner of Smith Dickson, is pleased to welcome Richard Warner, CPA and Ryan Nguyen, CPA to our partnership!

NAWBO-OC presented Debbie Dickson with the organization’s Remarkable Women Lifetime Achievement Award. The award was presented at NAWBO’s “20th Annual Remarkable Women Awards Event & Dinner” on May 19, 2016. Per NAWBO-OC: “Accomplished and respected CEO, mentor, and generous volunteer to numerous professional and community organizations for decades, Debbie Dickson is well deserving of NAWBO-OC’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Debbie is founder and president of Smith Dickson, an Irvine-based CPA firm specializing in litigation support services, accounting, taxation, and business consulting. She has earned a reputation as a formidable forensic accounting expert witness and is considered a dynamic leader in her field. “When she began her career as a CPA, Debbie was one of the few women in the profession. In the 1980s, after many years with Big 8 firms, she started Smith Dickson, an Accountancy Corporation. Taking care of her 12 employees is of the utmost importance to her, not only for the success of Smith Dickson but for the well-being of each employee’s personal concerns. For example, she shares her business sense and leadership skills as a mentor to those just starting their careers. Through her efforts, dozens of accountants have earned CPA certifications. Debbie regularly volunteers for boards and as president of groups such as the Forensic Expert Witness Association, Orange County Management Association, J. Reuben Clark Law Society, and Orange County Performing Arts Corporate Council. She also speaks before business organizations and women’s groups, and for three years ran a program that counseled teenage girls to develop their abilities. She’s a talented concert organist and pianist, donating her performances as a service to the arts. “Perhaps if you asked her about her greatest accomplishment, Debbie would say that being a wife and Mom to her six children is at the top of the list.”

The Dickson family’s achievements in performing arts have reached new heights! Debbie Dickson and daughter Brooke Dickson were invited in 2017 and again in 2019 by the Segerstrom Center for the Performing Arts to give full concerts to classical music enthusiasts. Debbie played the massive Gillespie organ (4,322 pipes, 30 tons), and Brooke performed as the soprano soloist. If you would like to see one of the performances, see the link below:

As part of our commitment to the Southern California legal community, Smith Dickson is pleased to have been a Silver Sponsor of the “10th Annual General Counsel Awards,” presented by the Orange County Business Journal. These awards recognize the significant role in-house counsels play in the success of Orange County businesses.

Smith Dickson was proud to sponsor the recent “7th Annual Bocce Invitational” to benefit the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation. The event, held at IL Fornaio restaurant in Irvine, was attended by Orange County business leaders and raised thousands of dollars for the organization. An exciting highlight for our Smith Dickson team was repeating as champions of the Bocce tournament (we also won in 2017)! The event was fun for all involved and we enjoyed supporting such a worthwhile cause. Our Smith Dickson group at the event …