Business losses can happen, whether you're operating a new company that has yet to earn a profit or a mature business that's been squeezed by today's volatile economy. While no one likes to lose money, the federal tax code helps soften the blow by allowing businesses to apply their losses to offset taxable income in future years, subject to certain limitations. Here's what you need to know.
Do You Qualify for the Deduction?
The net operating loss (NOL) deduction addresses the tax inequities between businesses with stable income and those with fluctuating income. It lets the latter average their income and losses over the years and pay taxes accordingly. You may be eligible for the NOL deduction if your deductions for the tax year are more significant than your income. The loss generally must be caused by deductions related to your:
- Business (Schedules C and F losses, or Schedule K-1 losses from partnerships or S corporations),
- Casualty and theft losses from a federally declared disaster (personal or business), or
- Rental property (Schedule E).
The following generally aren't allowed when determining your NOL:
- Capital losses that exceed capital gains,
- The exclusion for gains from the sale or exchange of qualified small business stock,
- Nonbusiness deductions that exceed nonbusiness income,
- The NOL deduction itself, and
- The Section 199A qualified business income deduction.
Individuals and C corporations are eligible to claim the NOL deduction. Partnerships and S corporations generally aren't eligible, but partners and shareholders can use their separate shares of the business's income and deductions to calculate their NOLs.
What Are the Limitations?
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) significantly changed the rules for NOLs. Previously, taxpayers could carry back NOLs for two years and carry forward the losses for 20 years. They also could apply their NOLs against 100% of their taxable income. The TCJA limits the NOL deduction to 80% of taxable income for the year and eliminates the carryback of NOLs (except for certain farming losses). It does, however, allow NOLs to be carried forward indefinitely. The CARES Act temporarily loosened the TCJA's restrictions. It allowed NOLs arising in 2018, 2019, or 2020 to be carried back five years and removed the taxable income limitation for years beginning before 2021. As a result, NOLs could completely offset income. The CARES Act provisions have expired, however. The 80% income limitation kicked in again for NOLs that arose in 2021 and going forward. You can only carry forward NOLs occurring in tax years after 2020 (except for certain farming losses). If your NOL carryforward is more than your taxable income for the year you carry it, you may have an NOL carryover. The carryover will be the excess of the NOL deduction over your modified taxable income for the carryforward year. If your NOL deduction includes multiple NOLs, you must apply them against your adjusted taxable income in the same order that you incurred them, beginning with the earliest.
Are Excess Business Losses Deductible?
Before the TCJA, noncorporate taxpayers generally could reduce their taxable nonbusiness income (for example, salary, capital gains, dividends, or interest) with their aggregate business losses from pass-through entities or sole proprietorships. The TCJA, however, established an "excess business loss" limitation, which took effect in 2021. For partnerships or S corporations, the excess business loss limitation is applied at the partner or shareholder level after the outside basis, and at-risk and passive activity loss limitations have been applied. Under the new rule, noncorporate taxpayers' business losses can offset only business-related income or gain, plus an inflation-adjusted threshold. For 2022, that threshold is $270,000 ($540,000 if married and filing jointly). For 2023, it rises to $289,000 ($578,000 for married filing jointly). The remaining losses are considered NOL carryforward to the next tax year. In other words, you can't fully deduct them because they become subject to the 80% income limitation on NOLs, reducing their tax value. Important: Under the Inflation Reduction Act, the excess business loss limitation applies to tax years beginning before January 1, 2029. Under the TCJA, it had been scheduled to expire after December 31, 2026.
How Does the Deduction Affect Tax Planning?
It's worth keeping in mind that, under the NOL deduction limits, a $1 loss sustained in the current year could be worth only 80 cents for tax purposes. This might affect your decision to, for example, claim bonus depreciation on a capital asset in the year of purchase. If claiming bonus depreciation in year-one results in a significant, it is more advantageous from a tax perspective to skip it. By instead amortizing the expense, you can fully deduct the cost over the asset's life. Navigating NOLs The rules regarding the tax treatment of business losses are complex, especially when accounting for how NOLs can interact with other potential tax breaks. Contact a Reynolds + Rowella tax professional to help chart the best course for your circumstances.
Reynolds + Rowella is a regional accounting and consulting firm known for a team approach to financial problem solving. As Certified Public Accountants, our partners foster a personal touch with our clients. As members of DFK International/USA, an association of accountants and advisors, our professional network is international, yet many of our clients have known us for years through the local communities we serve. Our mission is to operate as a financial services firm of outstanding quality. Our efforts are directed at serving our clients in the most efficient and responsive manner possible, delivering services that exceed the expectations of those we serve. The firm has offices at 90 Grove St., Ridgefield, Conn., and 51 Locust Ave., New Canaan, Conn. For more information, please contact Elizabeth Bresnan at 203.438.0161 or email.
