2021 Tax Update - Businesses
Corporate Taxes
The corporate tax rate is a flat 21 percent of corporate taxable income
Bonus Depreciation
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act increases the 50-percent "bonus depreciation" allowance to 100-percent for property placed in service after September 27, 2017, and before January 1, 2023 (January 1, 2024, for longer production period property and certain aircraft). A 20-percent phase-down schedule would then kick in. It also removes the requirement that the original use of qualified property must commence with the taxpayer, thus allowing bonus depreciation on the purchase of used property.
Vehicle Depreciation
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act raises the cap placed on depreciation write-offs of business-use vehicles. The new caps will be $10,000 for the first year a vehicle is placed in service (up from a current level of $3,160); $16,000 for the second year (up from $5,100); $9,600 for the third year (up from $3,050); and $5,760 for each subsequent year (up from $1,875) until costs are fully recovered. The provision is effective for property placed in service after December 31, 2017, in taxable years ending after such date.
Section 179 Expensing
Sec. 179 dollar limitation is set at $1,050,000 and the investment limitation at $2,620,000.
Deductions and Credits
Numerous business tax preferences are eliminated due to The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. These include the Code Sec. 199 domestic production activities deduction, non-real property like-kind exchanges, and more. Additionally, the rules for business meals are revised, as are the rules for the rehabilitation credit.
Like-kind exchanges. Under the act, like-kind exchanges under Sec. 1031 will be limited to exchanges of real property that are not primarily held for sale. This provision generally applies to exchanges completed after Dec. 31, 2017.
Entertainment expenses. The act disallows a deduction for (1) an activity generally considered to be entertainment, amusement, or recreation; (2) membership dues for any club organized for business, pleasure, recreation, or other social purposes; or (3) a facility or portion thereof used in connection with any of the above items.
Meals. The Consolidated Appropriation Act, 2021 allows taxpayers to deduct 100% of the cost of business-related food and beverage expenses incurred at restaurants in 2021 and 2022. In previous years, deductions for business meals at restaurants were limited to only 50% of the cost.
Pass-Through Income Deduction
For tax years after 2017 and before 2026, individuals will be allowed to deduct 20% of "qualified business income" from a partnership, S corporation, or sole proprietorship, as well as 20% of qualified real estate investment trust (REIT) dividends, qualified cooperative dividends, and qualified publicly traded partnership income. (Special rules would apply to specified agricultural or horticultural cooperatives.) The deduction is limited to 20% of the taxpayers taxable income.
A limitation on the deduction is phased-in based on W-2 wages above a threshold amount of taxable income. The deduction is disallowed for specified service trades or businesses with income above a threshold.
"Specified service trades or businesses" include any trade or business in the fields of accounting, health, law, consulting, athletics, financial services, brokerage services, or any business where the principal asset of the business is the reputation or skill of one or more of its employees.
For these purposes, "qualified business income" means the net amount of qualified items of income, gain, deduction, and loss with respect to the qualified trade or business of the taxpayer. These items must be effectively connected with the conduct of a trade or business within the United States. They do not include specified investment-related income, deductions, or losses.
"Qualified business income" does not include an S corporation shareholder’s reasonable compensation, guaranteed payments, or — to the extent provided in regulations — payments to a partner who is acting in a capacity other than his or her capacity as a partner.
The exclusion from the definition of a qualified business for specified service trades or businesses phases out for a taxpayer with taxable income in excess of $164,900, or $329,800 in the case of a joint return.
