This New Tax Break Can Make a Big Difference for Small Business Owners
The IRS regulations on Qualified Business Income was a major piece of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. This deduction is available for tax years 2018-2025 to eligible individuals, estates, and trusts that own interests in pass-through entities. For QBI deduction purposes, pass-through entities are defined as sole proprietorships, single-member (one owner) LLCs that are treated as sole proprietorships for tax purposes, partnerships, LLCs that are treated as partnerships for tax purposes, and S corporations. While the QBI deduction is available to individuals, estates, and trusts, the proposed regulations refer to all three as “individuals.”
Qualified business income means the net of qualified items of income, gain, deduction, and loss from an eligible business that’s operated via a pass-through entity. The deduction does not reduce your adjusted gross income (AGI). In effect, it’s treated the same as an allowable itemized deduction. The QBI deduction also does not reduce net earnings from self-employment for purposes of the self-employment tax nor does it reduce your net investment income for purposes of the 3.8% net investment income tax. The bottom line is that the QBI deduction regulations are lengthy and complex. This column only scratches the surface of the proposed rules. You may need to employ a tax professional to help you sort through the details and get the best QBI deduction results in your specific circumstances. - MarketWatch