On january 2, 2018, tobias company began using straight-line depreciation for a certain class of assets. in the past, the company had used double-declining-balance depreciation for these assets. as of january 2, 2018, the amount of the change in accumulated depreciation is $40,000. the appropriate tax rate is 40%. the separately reported change in 2018 earnings is a. an increase of $24,000. b. an increase of $40,000. c. a decrease of $40,000.