Small Business

If you own a sole proprietorship, partnership or S corporation, you may be able to deduct up to 20% of your business profit. Above certain income levels, the rules get stricter.

The election trades self-employment tax on your profit for payroll filings, a second return, and a salary number you have to defend.

No safe harbor percentage, no 60/40 rule, no dollar floor: what exists is a published set of factors, a line of Tax Court cases, and a memo you write before the year starts.

Engineering work sits close enough to the line that the same person can be a legitimate contractor on one project and an employee on the next.