Qualified Business Income – Are You Eligible for a 20% Deduction? Part II: Additional Guidance

Volume 5 No 9    |    Read Article

By Galia Antebi, Nina Krauthamer, and Fanny Karaman

In August, the I.R.S. issued much-awaited proposed regulations under the new Code §199A covering Qualified Business Income (“Q.B.I”). This provision of recently enacted U.S. tax law allows entrepreneurial individuals to claim a 20% deduction on taxable business profits of a sole proprietorship, partnership, L.L.C. or S-corporation. Galia Antebi, Nina Krauthamer, and Fanny Karaman ask and answer the pertinent questions: Who may benefit? How do the rules addressing R.E.I.T.’s and publicly traded partnerships (“P.T.P.’s”) affect Q.B.I when a net negative result is reported by the R.E.I.T. and the P.T.P.? When is an individual’s income effectively connected to a trade or business and when is the. income a form of disguised salary for which no deduction is allowed? What is a specified trade or business (“S.S.T.B.”) for which the resulting income cannot benefit from the Q.B.I. deduction? How does the de minimis rule work under which a limited Q.B.I. deduction is allowed S.S.T.B. income does not exceed a specified ceiling? How does the ceiling based on W-2 wages work when calculating the Q.B.I. deduction?   See more →