Question

Katie, a single taxpayer, is a shareholder in Engineers One, a civil engineering company. This year, Katie’s share of net business income from Engineers One is $200,000 (net of the associated for AGI self-employment tax deduction). Assume that Katie’s allocation of wages paid by Engineers One to its employees is $300,000 and her allocation of Engineers One’s qualified property is $150,000 (unadjusted basis of equipment, all purchased within past three years). Assume Katie has no other business income and no capital gains or qualified dividends. Her taxable income before the deduction for qualified business income is $400,000.
Required:
A. Calculate Katie’s deduction for qualified business income.
B. Assume the same facts provided above, except Katie’s net business income from Engineers One is $400,000 (net of the associated for AGI self-employment tax deduction), and her taxable income before the deduction for qualified business income is $350,000.

Answer 1

Answer:

A) Katie's maximum deduction is $200,000 x 20% = $40,000

But we must check that her deduction meets 3 requirements:

1. cannot exceed 50% of her earned wages = $300,000 x 50% = $150,000 ✓ requirement met
2. cannot exceed 25% of her earned wages + 2.5% of qualified property = ($300,000 x 25%) + ($150,000 x 2.5%) = $78,750 ✓ requirement met
3. cannot exceed 20% of taxable income = $400,000 x 20% = $80,000 ✓ requirement met

B) Katie's maximum deduction is $400,000 x 20% = $80,000, but since her net business income is higher than her taxable income, she must calculate 20% x $350,000 (taxable income) = $70,000 (same as requirement 3 in previous answer)