Jim Marshall, Tax And Financial Advisor, Scottsdale, Arizona

A key portion of the new Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) is Section 199A and its deduction of qualified business income. Section 199A allows taxpayers other than corporations a deduction of 20 percent of qualified business income that is earned in a qualified trade or business, though this has some limitations. There are both positive and negative aspects to the changes depending on your situation.

Tax Adviser outlines the following crucial points about Section 199A:

  • The deduction is limited to the greater of

(1)   50% of the W-2 wages with respect to the trade or business or

(2)   the sum of 25% of the W-2 wages, plus 2.5% of the unadjusted basis immediately after acquisition of all qualified property (generally, tangible property subject to depreciation under Sec. 167). In addition, the deduction also may not exceed (1) taxable income for the year over (2) net capital gain plus aggregate qualified cooperative dividends.

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Are you an incorporated business owner wondering whether you should pay yourself salary or dividend?

It is not a simple straight forward question and there is no one-size-fit-all answer to it.  Due to the introduction of eligible and non-eligible dividends and the changes of the gross-up and dividend tax credits in the past few years, the simple rules of thumb that used to work in the past do not apply any more.  You should consider the following five factors based on your own specific circumstances to tailor-made your own salary-dividend strategy.

Annual Spending

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