{"id":14714,"date":"2023-03-26T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-26T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/taxprocenter.proconnect.intuit.com\/?p=14714"},"modified":"2026-04-13T10:35:45","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T15:35:45","slug":"professional-services-guidance-for-the-qbi-deduction-helps-define-specified-services","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/accountants.intuit.com\/taxprocenter\/tax-law-and-news\/professional-services-guidance-for-the-qbi-deduction-helps-define-specified-services\/","title":{"rendered":"Professional services: QBI deduction (SSTB)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Sec. 199A of the Internal Revenue Code affords owners of sole proprietorships, partnerships and S corporations (and some trusts and estates) a lucrative 20 percent deduction on their qualified business income (QBI) beginning in tax year 2018. On Jan. 18, 2019, the U.S. Department of the Treasury issued <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/pub\/irs-drop\/td-reg-107892-18.pdf\"title=\"\" data-wa-link=\"body_irs-tdreg10789218\"  target=\"_blank\" rel=\"false noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">final regulations<\/a>&nbsp;on this centerpiece provision of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/protax.training.intuit.com\/9cec3d04-7a6b-4f4e-93b0-2e21e243eeff\/?utm_source=TPC\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"467\" width=\"700\" src=\"https:\/\/taxprocenter.proconnect.intuit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/elevate-2026-hero-us-en.png?w=700\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-80862\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.5021627602856855;width:464px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/taxprocenter.proconnect.intuit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/elevate-2026-hero-us-en.png 900w, https:\/\/taxprocenter.proconnect.intuit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/elevate-2026-hero-us-en.png?resize=150,100 150w, https:\/\/taxprocenter.proconnect.intuit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/elevate-2026-hero-us-en.png?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/taxprocenter.proconnect.intuit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/elevate-2026-hero-us-en.png?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/taxprocenter.proconnect.intuit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/elevate-2026-hero-us-en.png?resize=700,467 700w, https:\/\/taxprocenter.proconnect.intuit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/elevate-2026-hero-us-en.png?resize=740,493 740w, https:\/\/taxprocenter.proconnect.intuit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/elevate-2026-hero-us-en.png?resize=720,480 720w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-large-font-size\"><strong>What is a specified service trade or business?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>An specified service trade or business (SSTB) is a trade or business involving the performance of services in the fields of health, law, accounting, actuarial science, performing arts, consulting, athletics, financial services, investing and investment management, trading, dealing in certain assets or any trade or business where the principal asset is the reputation or skill of one or more of its employees or owners. The Sec. 199A deduction does not apply to SSTBs when taxable income is above $440,100 for joint filers and $220,050 for other filers, and is partially allowed when taxable income is between $340,100-440,100 for joint filers and between $170,050-220,050 for other filers (tax year 2022 amounts). Individuals with taxable income below these threshold levels are not subject to the limitations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The regulations elaborate and provide examples on which professions are included and excluded in the definition of a specified service trade or business. The chart below includes excerpts from instructions for&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/pub\/irs-dft\/f8995a--dft.pdf\"title=\"\"  target=\"_blank\" rel=\"false noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Form 8995-A<\/a>, <em>Qualified Business Income Deduction<\/em>,&nbsp;and will help tax professionals advise their clients on this aspect of the Sec. 199A deduction.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"865\" width=\"700\" src=\"https:\/\/taxprocenter.proconnect.intuit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Screen-Shot-2023-03-30-at-10.59.10-AM.png?w=700\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-28547\" srcset=\"https:\/\/taxprocenter.proconnect.intuit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Screen-Shot-2023-03-30-at-10.59.10-AM.png 1532w, https:\/\/taxprocenter.proconnect.intuit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Screen-Shot-2023-03-30-at-10.59.10-AM.png?resize=121,150 121w, https:\/\/taxprocenter.proconnect.intuit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Screen-Shot-2023-03-30-at-10.59.10-AM.png?resize=243,300 243w, https:\/\/taxprocenter.proconnect.intuit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Screen-Shot-2023-03-30-at-10.59.10-AM.png?resize=768,949 768w, https:\/\/taxprocenter.proconnect.intuit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Screen-Shot-2023-03-30-at-10.59.10-AM.png?resize=700,865 700w, https:\/\/taxprocenter.proconnect.intuit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Screen-Shot-2023-03-30-at-10.59.10-AM.png?resize=1242,1536 1242w, https:\/\/taxprocenter.proconnect.intuit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Screen-Shot-2023-03-30-at-10.59.10-AM.png?resize=740,915 740w, https:\/\/taxprocenter.proconnect.intuit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Screen-Shot-2023-03-30-at-10.59.10-AM.png?resize=1440,1780 1440w, https:\/\/taxprocenter.proconnect.intuit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Screen-Shot-2023-03-30-at-10.59.10-AM.png?resize=720,890 720w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"718\" width=\"700\" src=\"https:\/\/taxprocenter.proconnect.intuit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Screen-Shot-2023-03-30-at-11.02.35-AM.png?w=700\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-28550\" srcset=\"https:\/\/taxprocenter.proconnect.intuit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Screen-Shot-2023-03-30-at-11.02.35-AM.png 1540w, https:\/\/taxprocenter.proconnect.intuit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Screen-Shot-2023-03-30-at-11.02.35-AM.png?resize=146,150 146w, https:\/\/taxprocenter.proconnect.intuit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Screen-Shot-2023-03-30-at-11.02.35-AM.png?resize=292,300 292w, https:\/\/taxprocenter.proconnect.intuit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Screen-Shot-2023-03-30-at-11.02.35-AM.png?resize=768,788 768w, https:\/\/taxprocenter.proconnect.intuit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Screen-Shot-2023-03-30-at-11.02.35-AM.png?resize=700,718 700w, https:\/\/taxprocenter.proconnect.intuit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Screen-Shot-2023-03-30-at-11.02.35-AM.png?resize=1497,1536 1497w, https:\/\/taxprocenter.proconnect.intuit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Screen-Shot-2023-03-30-at-11.02.35-AM.png?resize=740,759 740w, https:\/\/taxprocenter.proconnect.intuit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Screen-Shot-2023-03-30-at-11.02.35-AM.png?resize=1440,1477 1440w, https:\/\/taxprocenter.proconnect.intuit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Screen-Shot-2023-03-30-at-11.02.35-AM.png?resize=720,739 720w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-large-font-size\"><b>De Minimis exception<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you have a blend of income from an SSTB and a non-SSTB, and your gross receipts from the SSTB component are under a certain threshold percentage, a de minimis rule applies and will allow the SSTB to be fully eligible for the QBI deduction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>If gross receipts from a trade or business are $25 million or less, AND less than 10% of the gross receipts are from an SSTB, the activity is not treated as an SSTB.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If gross receipts from a trade or business are more than $25 million AND less than 5% of the gross receipts are from an SSTB, the activity is not treated as an SSTB.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-large-font-size\"><b>Ancillary rule<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If your trade or business provides services or property to an SSTB, and there is 50% or more common ownership of the trades or businesses, that portion of the services or property provided to the SSTB is treated as a separate SSTB.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><b>Planning Tip:&nbsp;<\/b>If taxable income is above the threshold, consider trying to reduce taxable income so you can qualify for the QBI deduction, including the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Bunching income (defer income\/accelerate expenses).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Contributing to a retirement plan.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Contributing to a health savings account.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Making a charitable contribution.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Choosing married filing separate instead of married filing jointly.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-large-font-size\"><b>Resources<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/newsroom\/tax-cuts-and-jobs-act-provision-11011-section-199a-qualified-business-income-deduction-faqs\"title=\"\"  target=\"_blank\" rel=\"false noopener noreferrer\" data-wa-link=\"body_irs-199aFAQs\" target=\"_blank\">IRS Qualified Business Income Deduction FAQs<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/pub\/irs-drop\/td-reg-107892-18.pdf\"title=\"\"  target=\"_blank\" rel=\"false noopener noreferrer\" data-wa-link=\"body_irs-tdreg10789218\" target=\"_blank\">Final Regulations<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Editor&#8217;s note:<\/strong> This article was originally published Jan. 17, 2019, and republished with updates on July 22, 2019, March 3, 2020, and March 29, 2023.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Find out how the qualified business income (QBI) deduction affects your clients who work in professional services industries, including legal, accounting, consulting, athletics and more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107082828,"featured_media":10624,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rkv_browse_by_id":0,"rkv_cta_id":0,"rkv_optimize_for_pagespeed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"useModifiedDate":false,"customPublishDate":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[509474089],"tags":[582953261],"intuit_collection":[],"intuit_series":[],"coauthors":[509474105],"class_list":["post-14714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tax-law-and-news","tag-tax-reform"],"header_image":"","yoast_head":"<!-- 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