Business & farm

that is correct your tax basis in an S-Corp goes up by income but down by those nontaxable distributions

 

example extremely simplified. 

starting basis $1K - cash. income $5K - all cash. now tax basis is $6K - all cash. nontaxable distributions (basically the income being distributed to the owner) $5K- all cash. now basis is back down to $1K which is the cash