Title 26 › Subtitle Subtitle A— Income Taxes › Chapter 1— NORMAL TAXES AND SURTAXES › Subchapter B— Computation of Taxable Income › Part VI— ITEMIZED DEDUCTIONS FOR INDIVIDUALS AND CORPORATIONS › § 199A
Allows many people who are not corporations to take a tax deduction equal to the smaller of two amounts: the combined “qualified business income” amount, or 20 percent of their taxable income after subtracting net capital gains. The combined amount comes from each business the person owns and also adds 20 percent of certain REIT dividends and publicly traded partnership income. For each business, the allowed part is the lesser of 20 percent of that business’s profit or a wage/property limit. That wage/property limit is the larger of (a) 50 percent of the W–2 wages paid by the business, or (b) 25 percent of those wages plus 2.5 percent of the cost basis of qualifying depreciable property. If a taxpayer’s income is below $157,500 ($315,000 for married filing jointly), the wage/property limit does not apply. If income is between the threshold and the threshold plus $75,000 ($150,000 joint), the wage/property limit phases in. Business losses carry forward, reasonable pay to the owner and certain guaranteed partner payments are excluded from qualified business income, and special rules apply for partnerships, S corporations, REITs, publicly traded partnerships, and specified agricultural cooperatives. The IRS must write rules to apply these limits and handle short years, changes in businesses, and reporting. Key terms in one line each: combined qualified business income — the total allowed from all businesses plus 20 percent of certain REIT and partnership income; qualified business income — net business profit or loss (excluding those REIT/PTP amounts); W–2 wages — wages reported for employees; qualified property — depreciable business assets used during the year; qualified trade or business — any business except certain service trades and employee work; specified service trade or business — service firms like health, law, consulting, investment management, and similar trades that face limits above the income thresholds; threshold amount — $157,500 ($315,000 joint), adjusted for inflation for years after 2018. There is also a backstop that gives an applicable taxpayer at least $400 if they have $1,000 or more of qualified business income and materially participate; those $400 and $1,000 amounts are indexed for inflation for years after 2026.
Full Legal Text
Internal Revenue Code — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
Legislative History
Reference
Citation
26 U.S.C. § 199A
Title 26 — Internal Revenue Code
Last Updated
Apr 5, 2026
Release point: 119-73not60