This is the third in a series of posts reviewing the recently proposed regulations (“PR”) under Sec. 199A of the Code. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/08/16/2018-17276/qualified-business-income-deduction

So far, we’ve considered the elements of a “qualified trade or business” under Section 199A, and the related issue of what constitutes a “specified service trade or business,” the owners of which may be denied the benefit of Section 199A. Today we’ll turn to the meaning of “qualified business income.”

Qualified Business Income – In General

In general, under Section 199A of the Code, a non-corporate taxpayer is allowed a deduction (the “Section 199A deduction”) for a taxable year equal to 20% of the taxpayer’s qualified business income (“QBI”) with respect to a qualified trade or business (“QTB”) for such year.

The term “QBI” means, for any taxable year, the net amount of “qualified items of income, gain, deduction, and loss” attributable to any QTB of the taxpayer, which in turn means those items of income, gain, deduction, and loss to the extent they are (i) “effectively connected with” the conduct of a trade or business within the U.S., and (ii) included or allowed in determining taxable income for the taxable year.

QBI items must be determined for each QTB by the individual or pass-through entity (“PTE”) that directly conducts the trade or business before applying the aggregation rules. https://www.taxlawforchb.com/2018/09/the-proposed-sec-199a-regs-are-here-part-one/

Exclusion from QBI for Certain Items

The PR provide a list of items that are not taken into account as qualified items of income, gain, deduction, and loss, including capital gain or loss, dividends, interest income other than interest income properly allocable to a trade or business, and certain other items; similarly, items of deduction or loss attributable to these items of income or gain are also not taken into account in determining a taxpayer’s QBI.

Compensation for Services

In general, S corporations must pay their shareholder-employees “reasonable compensation” for services rendered before making “dividend” distributions with respect to shareholder-employees’ stock in the S corporation.

The PR provide that QBI does not include the amount of reasonable compensation paid to the shareholder-employee of an S corporation that operates a QTB for services rendered by the shareholder-employee with respect to such trade or business.

However, the S corporation’s deduction for such reasonable compensation reduces QBI if such deduction is properly allocable to the trade or business and is otherwise deductible.

Guaranteed Payments

Similarly, the PR provide that QBI does not include any guaranteed payment – one determined without regard to the income of the partnership – made by a partnership to a partner for services rendered with respect to the partnership’s trade or business.

However, the partnership’s related expense deduction for making the guaranteed payment may constitute an item of QBI. [i]

The PR clarify that QBI does not include any guaranteed payment paid to a partner for services rendered, regardless of whether the partner is an individual or a PTE. Therefore, a guaranteed payment paid by a lower-tier partnership to an upper-tier partnership retains its character as a guaranteed payment and is not included in QBI of a partner of the upper-tier partnership regardless of whether it is guaranteed to the ultimate recipient.

Other Payments to “Partners”

QBI does not include any payment to a partner, regardless of whether the partner is an individual or a PTE, for services rendered with respect to the partnership’s trade or business where the partner engages with the partnership other than in their capacity as a partner. Thus, it is treated similarly to guaranteed payments, reasonable compensation, and wages, none of which is includable in QBI.

Guaranteed Payments for the Use of Capital

Because guaranteed payments for the use of capital are determined without regard to the income of the partnership, the PR provide that such payments are not considered attributable to a trade or business, and thus do not constitute QBI.

However, the partnership’s related expense for making the guaranteed payments may constitute an item of QBI.

Interest Income

QBI does not include any interest income other than interest income that is properly allocable to a trade or business.

According to the PR, interest income received on working capital, reserves, and similar accounts is income from assets held for investment and is not properly allocable to a trade or business.

In contrast, interest income received on accounts or notes receivable for services or goods provided by the trade or business is not income from assets held for investment, but income received on assets acquired in the ordinary course of the trade or business.

QBI – Special Rules

In addition to the foregoing exclusions, the PR clarify the treatment of certain items that may be of interest to taxpayers that are disposing of their interest in a trade or business.

“Hot Asset” Gain

Under the partnership rules, the gain realized by a partner on the exchange of all or part of their interest in a partnership is treated as ordinary income to the extent it is attributable to the unrealized receivables or inventory items (“hot assets”) of the partnership. These are items that eventually would have been recognized by the partnership and allocated to the partner in the ordinary course; the exchange by the partner of their partnership interest merely accelerates this recognition and allocation.

Similarly, a distribution of property by a partnership to a partner in exchange for the partner’s interest in the “hot assets” of the partnership may be treated as sale or exchange of such hot assets between the partner and the partnership, thereby generating ordinary income.

According to the PR, any gain that is attributable to the hot assets of a partnership – thereby giving rise to ordinary income in the circumstances described above – is considered attributable to the trade or business conducted by the partnership, and therefore, may constitute QBI to the partner.

Of course, the term “unrealized receivables” is defined to include not only receivables, but other items as well; for example, depreciation recapture. This may be significant in the sale of a business by a PTE where the gain arising from the sale would otherwise be excluded from QBI.

Change in Accounting Adjustments

If a taxpayer changes their method of accounting, the Code requires that certain adjustments be made in computing the taxpayer’s taxable income in order to prevent amounts of income or deduction from being duplicated or omitted. In general, these adjustments are taken into account by the taxpayer over a three-year period.

The PR provide that when such adjustments (whether positive or negative) are attributable to a QTB, and arise in a taxable year ending after December 31, 2017, they will be treated as attributable to that trade or business. Accordingly, such adjustments may constitute QBI.

Previously Suspended Losses

Several sections of the Code provide for the disallowance of losses and deductions to a taxpayer in certain cases; for example, the “at risk” rules and the “passive activity loss” rules. Generally, the disallowed amounts are suspended and carried forward to the following year, at which point they are re-tested and may become allowable; of course, when the taxpayer disposes of their interest in the business to an unrelated party in a fully taxable transaction, the loss will cease to be suspended.

Likewise, losses may be suspended because an individual shareholder of an S corporation does not have sufficient stock or debt basis to utilize them; however, the actual or deemed sale of the assets of the S corporation’s business may generate enough gain to increase such basis and enable the shareholder to use the suspended losses.

The PR provide that, to the extent that any previously disallowed losses or deductions, attributable to a QTB, are allowed in the taxable year, they are treated as items attributable to the trade or business. Thus, losses that cease to be suspended under one of the above “disposition rules” may be treated as QBI. However, losses or deductions that were disallowed for taxable years beginning before January 1, 2018 are not taken into account for purposes of computing QBI in a later taxable year.

Net Operating Losses

Generally, items giving rise to a net operating loss (“NOL”) are allowed in computing taxable income in the year incurred. Because those items would have been taken into account in computing QBI in the year incurred, the NOL should not be treated as QBI in subsequent years.

However, to the extent the NOL is comprised of amounts attributable to a QTB that were disallowed under the new “excess business loss” rule – which are not allowed in computing taxable income for the taxable year but which are, instead, carried forward and treated as part of the taxpayer’s net operating loss carryforward in subsequent taxable years – the NOL is considered attributable to that trade or business, and may constitute QBI. https://www.taxlawforchb.com/2018/01/the-real-property-business-and-the-tax-cuts-jobs-act/

Property Used in the Trade or Business

QBI does not include any item of short-term capital gain, short-term capital loss, long-term capital gain, or long-term capital loss.

The Code provides rules under which gains and losses from the sale or exchange of certain property used in a trade or business are either treated as long-term capital gains or long-term capital losses, or are not treated as gains and losses from sales or exchanges of capital assets.[ii]

The PR clarify that QBI excludes short-term and long-term capital gains or losses, regardless of whether those items arise from the sale or exchange of a capital asset, including any item treated as one of such items taken into account in determining net long-term capital gain or net long-term capital loss.

Conversely, if the gains or losses are not treated as gains and losses from sales or exchanges of capital assets, the gains or losses may be included in QBI.

Effectively Connected With a U.S. Trade or Business

Section 199A applies to all non-corporate taxpayers, whether such taxpayers are domestic or foreign. Accordingly, Section 199A applies to both U.S. citizens and resident aliens, as well as nonresident aliens (“NRA”) that have QBI.

QBI includes items of income, gain, deduction, and loss to the extent such items are (i) included or allowed in determining the U.S. person’s or NRA’s taxable income for the taxable year, and (ii) effectively connected with the conduct of a trade or business within the U.S.

Determining Effectively Connected Income

In general, whether a QTB is engaged in a trade or business within the U.S., partially within the U.S., or solely outside the U.S., is based upon all the facts and circumstances.[iii]

If a trade or business is not engaged in a U.S. trade or business, items of income, gain, deduction, or loss from that trade or business will not be included in QBI because such items would not be effectively connected with the conduct of a U.S. trade or business.

Thus, a shareholder of an S corporation, or a U.S. partner of a partnership, that is engaged in a trade or business in both the U.S. and overseas would only take into account the items of income, deduction, gain, and loss that would be effectively connected with the business conducted by the S corporation, or partnership, in the U.S.

In determining whether income or gain from U.S. sources is effectively connected with the conduct of a trade or business within the U.S., a number of factors have to be considered, including whether the income, gain or loss is derived from assets used in or held for use in the conduct of such trade or business, or the activities of such trade or business were a material factor in the realization of the income, gain or loss.

If an NRA’s QTB is determined to be conducted in the U.S., the Code generally treats all non-investment income of the NRA from sources within the U.S. as effectively connected with the conduct of a U.S. trade or business.[iv]

Income from sources without the U.S. is generally not treated as effectively connected with the NRA’s conduct of a U.S. trade or business. Thus, a trade or business’s foreign source income, gain, or loss, (and any deductions effectively connected with such foreign source income, gain, or loss) would generally not be included in QBI.[v]

However, this rule does not mean that any item of income or deduction that is treated as effectively connected with an NRA’s conduct of a trade or business with the U.S. is necessarily QBI. Indeed, certain provisions of the Code allow items to be treated as effectively connected, even though they are not “items” with respect to a trade or business. For example, the Code allows an NRA to elect to treat income from rental real property in the U.S. that would not otherwise be treated as effectively connected with the conduct of a trade or business within the U.S. as effectively connected. However, if items are not attributable to a QTB, they do not constitute QBI.

Allocation of QBI Items

The PR provides that, if an individual or a PTE directly conducts multiple trades or businesses, and has items of QBI that are properly attributable to more than one trade or business, the taxpayer or entity must allocate those items among the several trades or businesses to which they are attributable using a reasonable method that is consistent with the purposes of Section 199A.

The chosen reasonable method for each item must be consistently applied from one taxable year to another, and must clearly reflect the income of each trade or business.

There are several different ways to allocate expenses, such as direct tracing, allocating based on gross income, or some other method, but whether these are reasonable depends on the facts and circumstances of each trade or business.

Next week, we’ll bring together the basic elements of Section 199A, which we covered in the last three posts, to see how the “20% deduction” is determined.

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[i] The PR provides that QBI does not include reasonable compensation paid by an S corporation but does not extend this rule to partnerships. Because the trade or business of performing services as an employee is not a QTB, wage income received by an employee is never QBI.

The rule for reasonable compensation is merely a clarification that, even if an S corporation fails to pay a reasonable wage to its shareholder-employees, the shareholder-employees are nonetheless prevented from including an amount equal to reasonable compensation in QBI.

[ii] IRC Sec. 1231.

[iii] Because an NRA cannot be a shareholder on an S corporation, the NRA’s effectively connected income must arise from the NRA’s direct conduct of a trade or business in the U.S. (including through a disregarded entity; if the NRA is a resident of a treaty country, the NRA’s business profits will not be subject to U.S. tax unless the NRA operates the business through a permanent establishment in the U.S.); in addition, an NRA is considered engaged in a trade or business within the U.S. if the partnership of which such individual is a member is so engaged.

[iv] However, any “FDAP” income or “portfolio interest” income from sources within the U.S., and any gain or loss from the sale of capital assets, may be effectively connected only if the income meets certain requirements.

[v] There are exceptions.