Tax man cometh
 

Just curious what others are doing with this new line for 2018. I'm trying to figure out IRS Form 1040, line 9. I glanced through Publication 535 as well.

Are other people deducting 20% of their officiating income on Line 9? And by income, I'm going to assume I should use Schedule C-EZ, line 3, and figure 20% of that.

I know taxpayers won't get a §199-A deduction if their self-employed insurance premiums are equal to or greater than their Net Schedule C income.

For anyone using tax software, the program should handle this deduction automatically.

I read through the instructions and boy does my brain hurt. Bur from what I could decipher is that officiating income is not Qualified Business Income because income from athletics is an exception to the Qualified Businesses.

MTD, Sr.

But, I think that exception only applies if "a taxpayer’s taxable income exceeds $315,000 for a married couple filing a joint return, or $157,500 for all other taxpayers". You are doing better than me if you had to apply that exception.

For what it's worth, HR Block Online offered me the 20% deduction for my consulting income (which I expected NOT to be a qualified business) but not for my umpiring income. I don't have the NAICS code I used immediately in front of me.

That said, between mileage, flights, laundry, registration fees, and uniform purchases, over 80% of my umpiring money got expensed. I'll have to look into this gig and see if I actually make anything next year. :D

I used NAICS Code 711219. That appears to be the current one for referees and umpires.

Are you talking about Line B? If you are a betting code is: 541990

MTD, Sr.