Why can't I take the QBI deduction this year? Last year I qualified as a single member LLC. Similar income this year and I do not exceed the income limit.

[JeffreyR77]

Please clarify what your business profit is. 

The net income of all your Qualified Business Income activities must be positive in order for you to qualify for a QBI deduction. 

Do you have rental property that you elected this year to be treated as a business for the first time? 

Not taking this election may be more beneficial in your circumstances.

[mszewczyk1991]

Business profit is $9,282.00

My income activities are positive. I contributed $2,000.00 to a solo401k associated with the business. Will this  prevent me taking the QBI deduction? I don't have a rental property, it's a healthcare business. Thank you!

[DaveF1006]

It depends. A Healthcare Business  is classified as a SSTB.  QBI deductions based on income begin to be phased out when an SSTB owner's taxable income (calculated before any QBI deduction) exceeds $157,500, or $315,000 for a married joint-filer.  Do you fall within these parameters?

Second possibility is that you may not have any income that exceeds your standard deduction. You can view this by going to tax tools>tools>view tax summary. Check to see what your taxable income is.  If it is zero, then you have no income to deduct the QBI deduction from. You can also preview your 1040 from here and look in the second box in line 12.  If that is 0, then there is no income to deduct QBI.

[mszewczyk1991]

@DaveF1006 I do not fall within those taxable income parameters. 

Thank you so much for the navigation advice, that was very helpful. I do have taxable income that exceeds the standard deduction and when I preview my 1040 form I have a number above zero. 

Any further guidance would be greatly appreciated!

[ThomasM125]

The solo 401-K contribution would be subtracted from your net business income to arrive at the qualified business income (QBI), as would your self-employment tax deduction. Also, if you had a business loss in a prior year, you might have a QBI loss carryover that would limit your QBI this year.

You can look on form 8995 to see how your QBI deduction is being calculated, or limited in this case. 

[mszewczyk1991]

Thank you for your reply. I did not have a business loss from the previous year. My business income was $9,828.00 and my s401k contribution was $2,000.00. 

When I search for the forms I cannot find a 8995 form to see how my QBI is being calculated. Please let me know if you have any further insight. Thank you!

[AmyC]

So your income is less than the parameters and you should qualify.

$9828 - SE tax - $2,000 is still a positive number for QBI.

When you went through the business return. did you mark that you actively participated?

Did you mark qualifies for QBI?

You may need to go ahead and pay for the return so you can see the actual forms to find the issue. To do this:

1. look on the left sidebar,
2. select tools
3. select print center
4. select pay now
5. Select Print, save or preview this year's return